By the end of July I know that I need to start getting my children mentally ready to start back to school. It takes them a few weeks to wrap their minds around going back to school and losing the freedom of summer. One fun way to do it is a back to school scavenger hunt!
Back to School Scavenger Hunt
There are so many fun things about back to school time. Shopping for a special outfit for the first day. Taking special photos that morning as you head off to a new grade. Buying school supplies is also something my kids love to do.
A back to school scavenger hunt is all about school supplies! So it goes right along with getting in the mood for the new school year.
How To Do a Back to School Scavenger Hunt
I love finding fun free printables to use with my kids. Scavenger hunts keep the kids active and occupied!
First I print off enough copies of the scavenger hunt for my kids to use. I may laminate the copies so that we can use them again the following year or really anytime.
I also like to print these off on white card stock so they are sturdier. Then I grab some clipboards and pens to make it easy.
Two Ways to Play
We play the game two different ways.
The first way to play is to have the kids search for the items on the scavenger hunt around the neighborhood. We are lucky to live in a small, safe neighborhood. There is practically no traffic and there are lots of kids in the area so people drive slowly.
The kids will go to a neighbor’s door and ask if they have anything on the list that they could either have or take a picture of for the game.
If you don’t have a good area for going door to door then you will want to play the at home style!
The other way to play is to just do the hunt in your own home. Since we keep most of our office supplies in the same area of the house…I like to hide things all over the place to make it more challenging. The kids will gather the items and may try to see who can get all the items first.
Make a Day of It
It can be fun to have a whole day of back to school fun. We may start with a game of Back to School Bingo and then move on to the Back to School Scavenger Hunt. Then we will work on packing our school supplies in our new backpacks.
Later I will do a little lesson with the kids on how to pack their own lunch boxes. Then I like to go over how our morning routine is going to go so there are no surprises!
What does your family like to do to prepare for the beginning of the school year? How will you play the scavenger hunt game?
More Printable Games for Kids
Love scavenger hunts? Check out this Fall Scavenger Hunt and grab two more (one for indoors and one for outdoors) in my post on Scavenger and Treasure Hunts.
Love scavenger hunts? Check out this collection of 20 scavenger hunt games from Organized 31!
Each theme contains at least 3 different game boards (most have more). For just $9.99 you’ll have fun activities that will last you all year long.
Printable FAQs
Fill in the form above. After you submit the form, you’ll receive an email from “Wondermom Wannabe” with a direct link to the printable. If you do not see the email in your inbox within a few minutes, check your spam folder.
The most likely place will be in your computer’s Downloads folder. You can also select “Downloads” in your browser menu to see a list of your downloads, then simply select “Show in folder” below the file name to see where it is stored on your computer.
You’ll need a program that supports PDFS, like Adobe Acrobat (which is free). Open the program, click File > Print. Select your printer and set the number of copies you want to print. Double check your print preview, then click print.