Plant Scavenger Hunt

Your Child Will Learn

About the features of plants and trees

Here’s What to Do

1. Head outside to a park, backyard, trail or other green space.
2. Search for these parts of trees and plants:
   1. Leaf
   2. Flower
   3. Trunk/Bark
   4. Seed/Nut
   5. Stem
   6. Fruit/Berry
   7. Root
3. When you find a plant part, ask your child to describe it (by color, shape, size, or texture).
4. If you’d like, take photos on your phone and create a special Nature Album.  Do it again at a different time of year and compare photos to see how the plants have changed!

Put PEER Into Action

PAUSE

• Take a deep breath and feel the outside air. Ready? Let’s go on a plant hunt!  

ENGAGE

• “Let’s look closely at this plant. Where are its leaves? Which part is the stem? Where is the flower?”
• “I’m noticing this acorn on the ground. This fell off of a tree! Do you know why acorns are important for trees?”

ENCOURAGE

• “I’m noticing that the leaf on this plant is smooth like an oval and the leaf on this plant has zig-zags around the edges. What are you noticing that is different between the two leaves?”
• “It’s okay that you don’t know what this is, you’re a scientist learning new things! This is a berry, which is the fruit of this plant.”

REFLECT

• Was there anything on the list we couldn’t find? Can we keep an eye out for that the next time we head outside?

Not Quite Ready

Focus on describing the characteristics of plants rather than naming parts of plants.

Ready for More

Have your child pick a favorite plant to draw.

As Your Child Masters This Skill

They will be able to describe different characteristics and features of plants and trees.

Time to Complete

20 minutes

Materials Needed

(Optional) Smartphone or camera