Scavenger Hunt in the Woods – Week 11 of 52 Weeks of Experiences

WEEK 11 – Scavenger Hunt in the Woods

I missed a few weeks because I didn’t have enough photos and/or descriptions to write a whole post, so I will combine some of those later. Often we end up doing 2 entries in a week, but it’s not always exciting and it doesn’t have to be.

Last week we had a semi-spontaneous outing that turned out to be so much fun. We went to a nearby preserve with the goal to do a scavenger hunt. I grabbed a flash light and a rope to mimick one of her favorite stories about the Berenstein Bears and the Spooky Old Tree. Boy, did she have a field day with that!

At first we walked with a stroller for a bit and once we got further in, we parked the stroller and played around in an area with the benches. We ran around playing hide and seek with Lexi pretending to look for me behind leaves and branches, behind benches and sippy cups. She even picked up her shoes to see if “mommy was there”. That outing was a great example of the fact that you don’t need any one thing to have fun. Just a new place and two people and all the pretending and games will make up for lack of things to do.

Then I explained to her that we are going to get the flashlight and look for little insects and animals. She instantly picked up on it and asked for the rope and went to find a stick, like the Three Little Bears.

Then she went on exploring and looking for our hunt items. We found a spider, a butterfly, ants, several geckos, birds, and then all of a sudden completely out of nowhere we saw a caterpillar hanging in a spider’s web. I  freed it and showed Lexi how it moves. She was FREAKED! EXCITED! SURPRISED! She’d never seen a real life caterpillar before. After a while we let it go somewhere safe and continued going.  She sat down in the stroller and kept  talking about the caterpillar and asking to see more. It’s hard to find any in Florida (not sure why), so I told her we would probably not see any more that day. And then as if by design, a little green caterpillar literally landed on Lexi’s nose. I mean it fell down on a single strand of spider’s web and hung right around her nose. What a surprise!

I picked it up and we spent a long time playing with it, letting it crawl all over us. Oh the giggles! She was soooo cute!  We spent close to 5 hours at that place playing all kinds of games, looking for scavenger hunt items, getting snacks at their cafe, “flirting” with workers and looking through the store. It was a surprising outing for me. And I also managed to get some self-portraits in, something I rarely get to do anymore. So I got some “decent” pictures of the two of us at the park.

Lexi’s Outfit:

Dress by Matilda Jane

Shoes by Pediped

HERE IS OUR LIST (PRINTABLE VERSION OF BOTH LISTS)

1. Backwards Day
   (Daniel Tiger episode tie in, Backwards Day book tie in)
2. Ride a pony/horse
   (Berenstain bears book tie-in)
3. Go to the airport and watch the planes land.
   (Curious George episode tie-in, Curious George book)
4. Go to a music shop and explore the instruments
   (Daniel Tiger episode tie in)
5. Go to a train museum SEE OUR WEEK HERE
6. Jump in Puddles (Weather contingent) (Hello, Fiends book) SEE OUR WEEK HERE
7. Feed ducks at the park (Curious George book)
8. Dance in the rain (Weather contingent) (Olivia book )
9. Plant something from seed and watch it grow OR plant a garden
   (Curious George episode tie in,  Little Critter book, Curious George book)
10. Climb a tree
11. Gather shells (Berenstain Bears book)
12. Ride a trolley (Daniel Tiger themed)
13. Go to the lake to look for tadpoles
    (Curious George episode tie-in, Curious George book tie in)
14. Go on a scavenger hunt in the woods
    (Curious George episode tie in, another Curious George episode tie-in Berenstain bears: nature’s guide (this is a great book for a scavenger hunt and it rhymes)
15. Fly a kite SEE OUR WEEK HERE
    (a great rhyming Berenstain bears book, Curious George episode, Little Critter book)
16. Roast marshmallows by the fire
    (OLIVIA tie in)
17. Play in the snow (Location contingent)
18. Go to an aquarium
    (Berenstain Bears book, Little Critter book, Curious George book)
19. Have a picnic – complete with basket and red checkered blanket. (Berenstain Bears book – another great funny rhyming book)
20. Lay out and look at stars (Curious George episode tie-in)
21. Go camping unplugged (phones turned off)
    (Daniel Tiger episode tie in, Curious George episode tie in, Little Critter book tie in, Curious George book tie-in,  OLIVIA book tie in other camping books)
22. First movie theater movie (Curious George book)
23. Go to a petting zoo!
24. Listen to a thunderstorm (Weather contingent.)
    (Daniel Tiger Episode tie in, Little Critter book tie in)
25. Have a Family Movie Night with snacks  SEE OUR WEEK HERE
26. Run around the grass in a park, barefoot, as a family
27. Pick fruit at a farm SEE OUR WEEK HERE
    (Daniel Tiger episode , Curious George book)
28. Make Snow/Sand Angels
29. Make pinecone and peanut butter bird feeders and hang them in the yard
    (Curious George tie-in)
30. Draw with chalk on the driveway/sidewalk
31. paddle a canoe down the river
    (Curious George episode tie-in)
32. visit a tidepool  (Weather contingent)
33. Egg Dying (Curious  George book)
34. Go to see a boat show (at Christmas)
35. Go on a sunset cruise on a boat
    (Curious George episode tie in)
36. Make giant bubbles in the yard SEE OUR WEEK HERE
37. go to a waterpark
38. go to  Botanical gardens
39. Go bowling
    (Curious George episode , Curious George book)
40. Jump on the bed/couch/furniture together (5 Little Monkeys book) SEE OUR WEEK HERE
41. Get long newsprint/butcher’s  paper and trace/color your hands, feet and bodies!
42. Make cookies together
43. Play Hide and Seek
44. Build a fort out of blankets and pillows (The Fort that Jack Built book)  SEE OUR WEEK HERE
45. Go to the Zoo
    (Curious George episode, Curious George book)
46. Go on a family bike ride through the woods
47. Make newspaper planes
48. Get a few giant cardboard boxes play pretend with them!
49. play tennis
50. play miniature golf
    (Curious George book)
51. Ride a roller coaster SEE OUR WEEK HERE
    (Curious George episode , Curious George book)
52. Ride a train
    (Berenstain Bears book tie-in)