Toddler Nature Scavenger Hunt: Make a Paper Bag Treasure Book

Inside: Make a simple paper bag treasure book for a fun Toddler Nature Scavenger Hunt!

Scavenger hunts are fun for kids of all ages but this awesome nature scavenger hunt has been designed specifically with toddlers and preschoolers in mind.

The idea is simple – create a book from paper bags that children can store their found treasures in. We can confirm, little ones love this idea!

Depending upon the age of your child, you can either draw the objects on the bag for them to find on their scavenger hunt (perfect for toddlers), or let your child draw and write what they find and store inside each bag once they have finished their nature exploring.

You can also easily pair this challenge with either our Five Senses Nature Scavenger Hunt or Rainbow Outdoor Scavenger Hunt if you’re taking an older child along on your outdoor adventure.

The idea is easily adapted for a range of outdoor environments too – you can make a paper bag treasure book suited for exploring your backyard, neighbourhood, a park or playground, a trip to the beach or a hike through the bush or forest.

RELATED: Pair your nature scavenger hunt with a great nature picture book with this great big list of Earth Day Picture Books.

How to Make a Paper Bag Treasure Book for a Nature Scavenger Hunt

You will need:

• Brown paper lunch bags
• Stapler
• Permanent marker
• Optional: tape

To make:

To make a treasure book with pre-labelled bags, first draw one item for your child to find on the front of each paper bag.

Around 8-10 scavenger hunt items is a good number but less is fine for younger toddlers.

You may like to create a cover ‘page’ bag as well. This becomes a great place to store little treasures that were not on your scavenger hunt list.

Then stack the bags into a pile with the open end of the bag facing up and staple along the left hand side to form a book.

To protect your child’s fingers and reinforce the strength of the bags, you can cover the spine of the book with your choice of tape.

Now you are ready to get hunting! Invite your toddler to open the top of each page to slip their treasure inside.

For those with older children who will be labelling their own paper bags, simply stack, staple and tape a collection of blank paper bags before you head out for your nature hunt.

Once they have collected their own choice of treasures, they can label each page with what is hiding inside the bag and draw a picture of the item.

Happy nature treasure hunting!

Be sure to check out these further outdoor play ideas;