I do a lot of scavenger hunts in my classroom. My students always enjoy them and they’re a great, low prep way to get kids up and moving outside of the classroom walls. Today I’m sharing a Free Valentines Day Scavenger Hunt that everyone enjoyed as part of our Valentine’s Day party.

One of the great things about scavenger hunts is that you can do them anywhere. From the classroom to your home, or even an adventure on a road trip, scavenger hunts are an easy way to engage children and encourage various learning skills.

Scavenger hunts are a great way to promote problem solving skills. With a scavenger hunt children have to find and recognize items that are a match to the images on their page. As children read the words, search for matches and work together activities like this make learning feel like play.

If you’re looking for more activities to make Valentine’s Day extra special, try a DIY Valentines Day Escape Room Game with free printable puzzles. You can also add more hands-on fun and learning with 37 Valentines Day STEM Activities where you’ll find science experiments, building challenges and more.

If you enjoy this scavenger hunt, and want another one, grab a copy of the Free Valentines Day Scavenger Hunt. It is similar to this activity, but themed riddles lead children around your home on a special adventure.

Free Valentines Day Scavenger Hunt Activity

When I first used a scavenger hunt in my classroom, it didn’t work. I teach young children, so they weren’t able to read the words on the page. We ended up doing the hunt together as a group, and I told them each of the things we were looking for, it was still fun, but I knew I needed to make my own scavenger hunts for us to use that encourage more independence and learning.

That’s when I started making scavenger hunts that have a picture beside each word/item children search for. This way kids can sound out the words and reinforce their reading guess with the picture. It has worked very well!

There is little to no prep required for this printable. Simply print copies of the scavenger hunt – you can work in partners, as a whole group or children can work independently. Do whatever works best for you and print as many copies as you need.

I like putting the printed page onto a clipboard for children to work off of. Give each child a marker or pencil to check off each item when they find it and you’re ready to start!

Let children know before starting that they don’t have to find the exact image. They can find an image that matches the description in a book, movie or anything else in the room or area you search. For example, they don’t have to find a red rose. They can find any type of flower to count for the one their page.

Free Valentines Day Scavenger Hunt

Extension Ideas

If you know one of the items are not going to be visible for children to find, you can print or draw a picture of the image. For example, grab an image of cupid from online and post it where children will do the scavenger hunt. This way children will still be able to complete the scavenger hunt.

You can also print and laminate the checklist. Since this activity is so popular with my students I have started doing it most years. I laminate the page and put it on a clipboard. Children can then check each item off with a dry erase marker. At the end of the hunt, everyone erases their sheets and I store them until next year.

If you are looking to fill more time, or have an activity available for early finishers, printing copies of the black and white pages is a great idea. Before, or after children complete the hunt they can color each of the pictures on the page.

Another option for any scavenger hunt, and an easy way to mix in some technology, is to challenge children to take a photo of each of the items they find. In order to complete the hunt, they need to submit or show the pictures.

Free Scavenger Hunt Ideas

I did this scavenger hunt one year with my kindergarten children and their big buddies. It’s a fun activity for them to interact and enjoy together. We only had a limited amount of time together so we set a timer. It was more than enough time for everyone to finish the hunt, but added a fun competitive element to the activity. Children left the classroom with their older buddy and searched around designated areas to find each of the items.

Once they completed their scavenger hunt, they came back to our classroom and everyone was given a small Valentine treat. It was a great way to celebrate the day.

Grab the Free Printable Here

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