Literacy & ABCs
Move & LearnPreschoolers48 Comments
An indoor scavenger hunt for kids is switched up with a little string and letters.
In an attempt to keep bringing the same fun for my younger kids, we just redid this string indoor scavenger hunt to spell your name with George.
Whether its their name, or finding little gems you’ve hidden along the way, it doesn’t matter. But having them find the letters of their name just adds a little fun learning twist.
To begin, I weaved yarn in and out, under and over, our dining room table and chairs.
I pulled the chairs away from the table toward the edge of the room.
Find 32 scavenger hunt ideas for kids that they’ll love to hunt for!
I started the string at one of the room by tying it to a chair.
Then strung it through the chair backs, legs, table legs, and so on throughout the room.
I weaved it so that George would have to step over chairs, bend and crawl under the table to follow the string.
I have letter foam stickers that I stuck to little pieces of paper. (You could just write letters on paper instead.) I made enough to spell his name.
I clipped those letters onto the string. I put them in order of his name, but he didn’t spell his name as he was going. It was done at the end, so the order doesn’t really matter.
From the starting point of the yarn, George ran his hand along the yarn to find his way through the course.
I guess this is more of an obstacle course than a scavenger hunt. But he searched for the letters of his name as he went through.
That was the main rule I had for the activity, to keep his hand on the string so he’d know where he was at (and not skip over to the string next to it and miss out!).
At the end, he spread out his findings to spell his name!
Like I said, we did this a long time ago with Henry, too.
Here’s his version from a few years ago.
During nap time, I set up this simple ‘follow the string’ indoor scavenger hunt for kids.
I strung yarn around the room (a couple of rooms actually).
Looping it through furniture and toys, creating a tangled mess.
I found this string scavenger hunt idea for outside awhile back from Teaching Ideas but recently saw another similar scavenger hunt at Having Fun at Home with ribbons.
Find all sorts of scavenger hunt ideas for kids here.
With clothespins, I pinned stickers and letters to hunt for along the course of the string.
Henry awoke and instantly began climbing through, over and under the strings.
He wasn’t really sure what I had intended with this mess.
Luckily, during a quick potty break, I explained the rules:
- Start at the beginning of the string and keep a hold of the string.
- Follow the string throughout the scavenger hunt.
- Hunt for and collect treasures along the way.
Henry continued his climbing over and under each string as he came across it.
Crawling under the table where the string took him.
Finding treasures as he came across them.
In the end, the letters spelled his name (in order, but that didn’t matter since he wouldn’t put them down and they got all jumbled up in his hand).
There were also ‘treasures’ of Bob the Builder stickers.
Henry’s been continually playing with his machine (Bob the Builder) stickers as if they were toys.
What kind of indoor scavenger hunt for kids do you love to do?
Another indoor scavenger hunt for kids to do is search for letters and numbers! It’s great for matching upper and lowercase letters, along with practicing counting. Try it!
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Torrez Gricelda says
Muy buena ideas me gusta mucho
Mk says
This was a lot of fun! Saw something similar at a nearby farm (Gentry Farms in Franklin, TN) – they added jingle bells and had instructions to creep through without ringing the bells.
Rachel says
Oooh that sound fun too!
Karisa says
You could use words for older children and have them build sentence clues. And set a second hunt with different color yarn for a second and maybe third sentence building clue.
Melissa (Wading Through Motherhood) says
This sounds like so much fun! I love the integration of string into the scavenger hunt.
Cass@frugalfamily says
What a great idea – I love it!
Thanks for joining in with this week’s fabulously frugal!
Thanks x
Karen W says
What a wonderful idea! When we do scavenger hunts we use clues and hide them from one place to another. The children would love this alternative. I am going to have to figure out the best way to make it work for 4 children though.
Thanks for sharing with Littles Learning Link Up. So glad you could join in. I hope you will be able to stop by again soon.
Jessica says
I combined a few of your ideas today, with great success. I started with this maze, and had my almost 4 year old find the letters of his name, etc. Then, I had him arrange his letters to spell his name (horray! he could do it… I had no idea). THEN… based on my montessori background and your sandart number project, we spread glue over the letters and covered them with sand. (we did a few coats of this, and eventually put a layer of glue over the top of the sand to make it more solid/durable). THEN… we got a 1×6 board and I let him sand down the edges with sandpaper. We glued his sandpaper letters to the board, making his name. He now has a tactile name plaque that he can use to trace the letters (with his fingers) to help him learn how write the letters (a standard Montessori method of teaching letters and writing). It was great fun and mixed some good silliness (climbing over the table!) with gluing and reading. Thanks for the inspiration!
Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas says
great fun – this would be great during Halloween (spiders & webs!)
Thanks for lining to the Sunday Showcase & sure hope to see you this week!
Bern
http://momto2poshlildivas.blogspot.com/search/label/Sunday%20Showcase
Juf says
Cute, I just pinned this!
Jacqueline (visiting from TT and J)
Aleacia says
This is such a great idea, love it. I remember growing up my brother and I used to create webs of string/yarn in our room. So much fun! I'll have to give this a go with the girls but really can't wait until they create something like this themselves, won't be too long before they are! :)
Thanks for linking this up to Flutter By Friday!
Aleacia
katepickle says
oh I love this idea!
I have fond memories of a similar string hunt to find birthday presents as a child! Must remember to do this for my kids!
OneMommy says
Love this idea!
Science Sparks says
Wow, we have never seen this idea before! That is so clever and I just love it. I shall be having a go at that with my three little ones! x
JDaniel4's Mom says
What a great way to get exercise! This would be the perfect activity for a rainy day.
Anonymous says
What a cute idea. My little one has been unstringing curling ribbon around the house for days. He might just love this.
Alex says
This sounds like a lot of fun!! I'm pinning it on my "Stuff to try" with my kid board on pinterest. I think my 3 yro would love this!
Alexis Grace of NorthOnHarper says
Oh… I love this!!!!!! Perfect for when my nephews spend the night!
Alissa @ Creative With Kids says
Leland has been into writing and spelling his name recently, so this is perfect.
My kids love treasure hunts. Our post recent Art Treasure hunt :D
Kristin @ Preschool Universe says
I love this idea! No doubt Henry will be making his own string hunts soon.
Ms Bibi says
That sounds and looks like so much fun. We love to do scavenger hunts when we are camping and my kids love our annual Easter treasure hunt.
Kate @ Puddles and Gumboots says
I just love this idea!
Jen @ lil Mop Top says
very cute! love the letters of the names! I will try this one soon. :)
Anonymous says
my niece wrapped our house much like yours a few years back I asked what her plan was and she said it was a laser security system and she had to practice going through without touching the strings, I thought that was pretty cool we all tried it! My son is 4 and I love your idea of hiding the letters I believe we will try it soon.
Jill @ A Mom With A Lesson Plan says
YOU ARE AWESOME!!!
Debra says
What a fantastic idea to keep your child occupied x (new follower from TCS)