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Holiday Boredom Busters Ideas – Outdoors (Part 2)
By Chan Hoi Ki on 16/06/2022
This post is a continuation of possible outdoor activities you can add on to spice up your family outings! A good general rule of thumb is that prior to any trip to a new location, pick up some light-reads related to the venue (eg. beach, zoo) from the library and go through them with your child to spark some interest. This way once they are there, your children are more energised and interested in the activity!
On the theme of hunts, here are some ideas you can try out:
Animal hunt
This activity will apply to any venue featuring animals eg. zoo & aquariums. Prior to the trip, you will need to perform some homework. Do some basic research to the venue you are headed to and note down some animals that you wish your child to locate whilst you are there. Some ideas that you may pursue:
- Print photos of the selected animals and have your child identify them
- Provide descriptions of the animals eg. long trunk & tusks/furry & spotted and have your child guess & identify them
- Identifying animals starting with a certain alphabet and writing/drawing them
- Provide a fact sheet for the selected animals and highlight them to your child
Additionally, you may also encourage your child to document their trip into a form of a journal afterwards for some reflection time & learning points.
Scavenger hunt
Along the similar lines of animal hunt, you can also do a simple scavenger hunt. You may set the hunt along a particular theme such as: beach, textures, outdoor mindfulness, colours, literacy etc. Scavenger hunts are very adaptable, it trains your child’s problem-solving skills, their body and mind both get a workout and last but not least, educational too. Here are some examples of a themed scavenger hunt:
- Texture scavenger hunt
This encourages kids to use their sense of touch to explore and a literal hands-on look at nature. They can either draw out the item or write its name.
- Beach scavenger hunt
Courtesy of our very own Singapore Philatelic Museum, encourage your kids to spot any of the above listed items commonly seen in our own sunny island! Prior to the trip, pick up some books related to the beach and do some light-reading with your child to spark some interest and deepen their hands-on experience once they are there.
- Outdoor mindfulness scavenger hunt
This type of hunt encourages your child to think for themselves as the answers are entirely up to their interpretation. They get to decide what to jot down that smells nice, what makes them feel happy and what their favourite colour is. Take a slow walk or sit down in nature with your child and allow them to take their time to observe, listen and absorb their surroundings.
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