Scavenger Hunt
Shape Safari
Look for circles, squares and other shapes around your home.
Ages 3 to 8
20 minutes
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Get ready
2 minutes. Draw a circle, a rectangle and a triangle on paper.
What you’ll need
Paper and crayons. No objects need to be collected.
Let’s play
1. Choose one shape from your paper. Look for something in the room that has a similar outline.
2. Point to your discovery and trace its outline in the air, without touching unsafe objects.
3. Ask what is the same and what is different about the drawing and the object.
4. Draw a pretend safari animal made from the shapes you found. Tell each other where it lives.
Your part in the adventure
Be the safari guide who asks open questions and lets your child decide what counts.
What they’re discovering
Matching outlines to real objects builds the words for shape and space. Inventing an animal from the shapes turns it back into play.
Before you begin
Stay in the room you’ve agreed on. Point at things instead of picking them up, and no climbing to reach a shape.
Keep the idea going
Ages 6 to 8 can hunt for the same shape in different sizes and explain how it looks when it’s turned. Younger kids can stick to circles. If it drags, send the safari to a new room with one new shape.
Every child is different. Adjust activities for their age and abilities, and stay close by. These are play ideas, not medical or developmental advice.