Rainbow scavenger hunt

Activity

Explore the colours of the natural world.

  • Estimated time: 30 minutes
  • Location: Outdoors
  • School term: All year round
  • Level of experience: No experience needed
  • Subject(s):

Learning objectives

  • Observe the different colours within nature
  • Match objects to colours

Preparation

Collect enough egg boxes (with 6 holes) for either every child in your group/family or enough for one per small group of children. 

Paint the inside of each hole with a different colour of the rainbow. You may want to check what colours are in your garden at the time to make sure they can find enough examples.

Equipment

  • Egg boxes
  • Poster paints & paint brushes
  • Access to an outside natural area

Step by step

  1. Give each child or group of children one of the pre-painted egg boxes.
  2. Head out into the garden and ask them to look around carefully to find items that match the colours in their box.
  3. When they find something that matches they should add it to the correct colour in the box.
  4. When everyone has found all six colours, gather round together and see what different items have been found. Can anyone name some of the things they have found?

Hints & tips

  • If you don't have a garden, you could take your group to a park or woodland to find their items. Choosing an area with lots of variety is key to a successful activity.
  • If you are unsure about what plants are safe to touch, have a look at our checklist of potentially harmful plants. Gloves could be warn as a precaution.
  • Remind your group to be respectful to nature and only take small samples from living plants or try to find fallen materials.
  • Use our spotter guides to help identify some common flowers or leaves.
  • Add an element of fun by making the scavenger hunt a race. Who can find all six first?
  • Be mindful of any children with a colour vision deficiency (or colour blindness) who may struggle more than others.
  • Paint different colours in the boxes for different seasons or to suit your surroundings.
  • Ask your groups to think of adjectives they could use to describe their items e.g. firey red petals, lucious green leaves. Ask them to try writing a poem about what they've found.
  • You could also use your items to make works of art or you could press them to make bookmarks or sun catchers.