Planning the hunt
Choose your dinosaurs
Find some toy dinosaurs. You might already have some or you could try borrowing from friends, visiting your local op shop or putting a request out on your local Buy Nothing Facebook page (if there’s one in your area). dinosaur toys. Try to find a variety of types and sizes to make the hunt more exciting.
You could also draw different dinosaurs on cardboard, cut them out and hide those instead.
Create clue cards
Write clues on cards that lead from one dinosaur to the next. Make the clues suitable for the age group of the children participating. For younger kids, clues can be simple riddles or directions (‘Walk to the tall tree and look below’). For older kids, make the clues more challenging and educational, perhaps including fun facts about dinosaurs.
Hide the dinosaurs
Hide the dinosaurs around your garden in various locations. Place them under leaves, behind rocks, in the branches of trees, or buried in a sandpit if you have one.
Make sure the dinosaurs are secure and won’t blow away but are still visible enough for kids to find with a little effort.
You could also create some 'dinosaur eggs' for the kids to find.
You can also create a 'base camp' where the kids start and return after collecting all their dinosaurs. You could decorate with dinosaur posters and other dinosaur themed items.
Hunting day!
Start with a story
Gather the kids at base camp and start with a story about how they’ve been transported back in time to a world where dinosaurs roam. Their mission is to find and rescue the lost dinosaurs.
Hand out the clue cards
Give the first clue card to kick off the adventure. You can give each child or team their own set of clues if lots of kids are playing.
Treasure at the end
Once all dinosaurs are found, lead the kids to a box filled with dinosaur-themed goodies like stickers, bouncy balls, and treats as rewards for their hard exploration work.
This dinosaur hunt is not only a fun physical activity but also a great learning experience that encourages problem-solving and teamwork!