So when I set out to write this post, I had this awesome plan of creating this amazing museum scavenger hunt printable. I started how I usually do – some research! I went through several well-known museum pages, exploring their exhibits, trying to get a feel for the types of things to include, the types of scavenger hunt I would want to create, and the style of the printable.
But I came across a problem.
Unlike the zoo scavenger hunt where there are generally the same types of animals at each zoo, every museum is different. Some are art museums. Some are children’s museums. Some are museums with gems and some are gems with artifacts from ancient times, recent times, and everything in between. Some museums have exhibits that travel and some have amazing permanent exhibits.
No matter what, it seemed each museum was unique and different. This made creating a scavenger hunt incredibly difficult.
So then I started to brainstorm ways to explore a museum that could be adapted to each museum, no worries of whether an exhibit was there or not. How could this scavenger hunt encourage exploration and identification of the exhibits while not taking away from actually understanding what our children are viewing.
It was quite the conundrum.
So I created this printable. It is just a starting point for the interesting things your children will see. You can adapt it to whatever museum you are visiting. You can use it in just one room or exhibit, or for the entire museum.
Here is my suggestion for use for older kids:
- Have your kids fill out the scavenger hunt as directed – one artifact, exhibit, interesting fact per letter. Limit it to a floor or an exhibit. The entire museum might be unwieldy.
- After an hour or two (depending on their age), have them return with however much they were able to fill out. Find a place to sit together, maybe a quite area of the exhibit hall or the museum cafe, and have each child explain in a sentence or two what they found for each letter.
- The key is to ensure that they read and understand about what item they wrote for each letter, not just finding the item and writing it down. You want to ensure understanding and discovery.
- Then, have them pick their top 3-5 favorite things that they found and take all the kids to go see it. Have the “presenter” (the child whose favorite thing it is) take about what it is, why they like it, and all background information they found interesting.
They might not find an item for every letter and that is ok! The key is for this to help guide and focus their discovery on things that truly interest them. Then take note of their top 3-5 things so that you can help guide future learning, reading, conversations, and more!
Here is my suggestion for use for younger kids:
- Pick an exhibit or floor to focus on. Pick too much, and little ones won’t be able to focus on it all. For younger ones, the discovery of the item is second to reinforcing the general idea of discovery and reinforcing their alphabet.
- Follow their lead on what they would like to see. For example, if they want to go see a spaceship, let them lead you there. Discuss the different parts of the ship. Talk about space a little. Focus on their discovery of the item first and foremost.
- Then show them the printable with the alphabet. Repeat the item that you just learned about. Sound out the beginning of the words (space, ship, astronaut, planet, etc). Ask them what letter makes that sound. Allow them to come up with words to fill in the sheet with words related to the topic you just discovered.
Like I said, it’s very adaptable to age level and interest level!
Enjoy!