Outdoor winter scavenger hunt

Winter Scavenger Hunt (w/FREE printable list)

Grab this free printable Winter Scavenger Hunt list and get outside & hunt down clues to explore seasonal changes in nature!

My kids will be the first to tell you that no matter the weather, we get some outdoor time every day.

It’s definately more of a challenge during Winter — the colder weather and being all bundled up puts a little kink in tree climbing and some of our animal observations but there’s still a LOT you can explore — like doing a science experiment to learn how much water is in snow!

Challenge your kids to get outside this week with this free Winter Scavenger Hunt list! This is a great activity for all ages – preschoolers, big kids & adults – check off the items to learn how much happens during the cold weather!

One of the things I LOVE most about this scavenger hunt is that so many kids thinks that there’s “not much to see” in the Winter.

Actually, you can see SO much more during the Winter months!

Without leaves on many of the trees, you can easily see who’s scurring about for food. You can also hear quite a bit more without the leaves rustling.

And if you’re lucky to have snow on the ground, you can also scout out animal tracks too. We’re including links to some of our favorite winter activities, science terms you can introduce to your kids and affiliate links to books and items we love to have on our scavenger hunts too.

Before you head out on your hunt, we’d like to recommend a few awesome books about fun things you can find in the Winter:

Winter Walk — enjoy an outdoor adventure as a Grandmother takes her grandkids out to explore the hidden gems of winter. I love the Winter Trivia & additional activities section included in this book!

Over and Under the Snow — is a favorite of ours and part of the amazing Over & Under nature series! See how various animals spend the winter months whether it’s surviving over the snow and spying on those that live under it.

It’s Winter — perfect for younger children (toddlers and preschoolers) with colorful illustrations and details about how animal life, weather and clothing change with the season.

You can use this scavenger hunt in a few ways —

Bring along a pencil and a clipboard and check off the items as you find them. If you have more than one child going with your, just grab a set of colored pencils and have them each claim a color as their check off the items!

Or take along your phone and use this as a guide for a Winter photo scavenger hunt! This is a little more challenging — taking photos of the various items — so it’s a great fit if you have older kids. See our Outdoor Photo Scavenger Hunt for kids’ photography skills and lessons.

Winter Scavenger Hunt Ideas

We included a few ‘easy’ items on the list that you can check off right as you walk out the door — boots, mittens, a hat — a way to encourage (from preschoolers to adults!) everyone to dress for the weather 😉

These first few items should also remind kids they need to look up, down and all around to find the scavenger hunt items.

In winter, there’s not as many colorful nature items to see as there are during other seasons.

Even most of the animals seem to blend in — which makes it a great time to introduce the term “camouflauge” to your kids.

But everyone once in a while, you can spot a glimpse of color like these red berries. Many bushes will still have berries on them after their leaves have fallen so be sure to crouch down and peek in forest and wooded areas. You could also pair this with the free printable Forest Scavenger Hunt if you’re hiking through the woods!

And while you’re looking down, try to find some brown leaves, pinecones and even animal tracks!

Animal tracks are easy to see if you have snow, mud or sand (here’s a guide on How to Find Animal Tracks in Winter). You’re likely to find them near water or treed areas where they look for food and take shelter during the colder nights.

And be sure to impress that you can find more than one item at a time — use those observation skills to the max! For example, we found snow, bare trees and a bird all in one spot 🙂

If you are able to spy a cardinal or other bird that stays in your area year-round, introduce the idea of ‘migration’ vs ‘adaptation’ to your kids.

Animals such as songbirds and geese will migrate – travel to a warmer climate during the colder months. Other animals like deer and cardinals will adapt to their current location by growing a warmer coat or feather layer. And if you have kids who love those feathered creatures, try some of the 15 Bird Activities & Crafts for Kids.

I think one of the most challenging things to find on the scavenger hunt is the sun! Most of the days we head outside are cloudy.

And then there are items your kids may be surprised at — things they might not have noticed before like ‘smoke coming from a house’s chimney’.

Plus the one challenge box on the scavenger hunt: Something you ONLY see in Winter — and don’t let them use ‘snow’, it’s too easy 😉

Push your kids to use their observation skills to go deeper —

maybe ice or icicles?

Or the scarf they are wearing?

Even something like “my breath” since chances are the temps are cold enough that they can see the condensation (water vapor) that’s formed when they exhale. (if they are intrigued by this, check out these 5 Easy Ways to Teach Kids about Science activities!)

Printable Winter Scavenger Hunt

Download your own Winter Scavenger Hunt and enjoy an outdoor adventure together!

More Winter Activities & Scavenger Hunt Ideas:

Free Printable Indoor Scavenger Hunt (perfect idea when you’re stuck inside!)

33 Fun Things to do with Kids this Winter

50 Free Scavenger Hunts for Kids

Exploring the Senses with a Winter Scavenger Hunt

Candy hearts notwithstanding, February offers plenty of opportunities for family fun! And, depending on where you live and hike the most, February can mean lots of things. It may herald a few more months of winter … or the start of spring! Or, if you’re lucky enough to live somewhere where the weather is all over the place, it could mean both. Looking for an outdoor activity to do in any weather? Try exploring your senses with a winter scavenger hunt!

Scavenger Hunt Learning Opportunities

Once you’ve committed to getting outside to explore, there are some great learning opportunities for your little ones. You can add a bit of adventure to your hike by discussing with your kids how they can learn more about nature through their senses.

With that in mind, we’ve curated a scavenger hunt just for you that makes use of the different senses – hearing, seeing, smelling and touching. We’ve also made it convenient for you to download a clickable version or a black and white version to print.

Of course, the fifth sense – tasting – also offers some good opportunities for learning. However, with the exception of perhaps tasting rain drops or snowflakes, we left it off the list.

Before the scavenger hunt

Using our winter scavenger hunt as a guide (and perhaps adding more items of your own), consider what you’re likely to encounter on your adventure. You can even bring your camera along to take pictures of the items for discussion later with your kids. (Note: Please remember to follow Leave No Trace guidelines and do not take anything from its natural habitat.)

Then as you prepare to start your hike, talk with your kids about each of the different senses and how we use them. Depending on the age, you can also ask questions about each item on the list: “Do we see clouds? Do we taste them? Do we smell them?”

Some items, like pine trees, may check off multiple scavenger hunt items and senses. We can observe them. We can smell them. We can feel them. And, pine cones come from them.

Allow your child to surprise you with their sense of wonder and their powers of observation. Be prepared for giggles and excitement!

After the scavenger hunt

Go over your list and talk about each item you discovered. If you took pictures of some of the items, look at them together and ask questions about what your children experienced.

Were there any items you thought you should encounter but didn’t? What about things you discovered that weren’t on the list? This is a super fun activity that your kids will want to repeat again and again each season.

Nature Based Scavenger Hunts, your new hiking friend
Being in the outdoors can help sensory exploration

Photo by Amy Diebold. Scavenger hunt graphic designed by Alex Wong.

What kind of winter scavenger hunts have your family gone on? Please share them below!

About the Zaimka

Khardikov Zaimka was created by the famous Tomsk businessman Yuri Khardikov, an avid hunter, fisherman and nature lover. The zaimka is located not far from the republican reserve, near the border with the Novosibirsk region. The place where the zaimka is located is called Chernivtsi Lakes. These lakes have retained their original beauty to this day.

Khardikov's Zaimka is a real paradise for fishermen and hunters, a good place for winter holidays and not only... There are a lot of fish in clean, transparent waters, and in the taiga there is a huge amount of upland game. All the beauty, of course, cannot be expressed in words, it's all you need to see for yourself.

Guests will be greeted by cozy, environmentally friendly, log cabins made of pine and a real Russian banya. There is even a real Mongolian yurt for 12 people. Arriving at the zaimka, experienced specialists will develop an individual recreation program so that your stay at the zaimka leaves an unforgettable experience. Fans of outdoor activities in winter can ride snowmobiles, race on an all-terrain vehicle and a quad bike. And this is not the whole list of entertainment. A special program will be offered at the zaimka for lovers of fishing and hunting. Fishermen within a radius of 10-15 km have plenty to choose from - they have several lakes at their disposal, where pike, crucian carp and perch are found in large numbers.

During the hunting season visitors can organize upland game hunting. There are especially many capercaillie, a favorite bird of avid hunters, in the area of the catch. For lovers of the exotic, there is hunting for elk, hare and bear. They also catch lynx. True, hunters should always remember that the latter requires great skill, patience and extraordinary courage. There is something to see among the sights - centuries-old trees with several girths, growing for hundreds of years, a museum of hunting trophies, a monument to Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin with his words that went down in history: “You need great shocks. We need Great Russia."

The most common and easiest way to hunt in the zaimka in winter is to hunt a hare. In winter, the hare can be found in these places on the fields of winter crops; it lays down within 100 meters from the field. Its presence is guessed from the gnawed areas on the winter. He arranges a bed in any unevenness of the landscape, it can be determined by the hill of earth that the hare digs. Hunting for a brown hare in winter takes place according to various strategies, sometimes it depends on weather conditions, and sometimes on the desire of the hunters.

In order for the hunt to be successful, you need to know the hare's habits well. Of great importance is the recognition of all kinds of hare tracks, very diverse in nature, since for most rifle hunters tracking down hares is the main, and sometimes the only available way of winter hunting. The so-called approach hunting is especially common. As hunters say, it is popular, although it requires a fair amount of skill, first you need to find a land where many hares live, then the hunt will most likely be successful for you. You need to move with a gun at the ready to the favorite places where these animals lie against the wind: to small fluffy Christmas trees, to juniper bushes, you need to look at fallen trees and in the grass at the edge of swamps or fields. The weather for this type of hunting is desirable with little wind, but mild. In such weather, your feet step silently, and the hare lies firmly in its bed. No matter how ready you are to shoot, the rise of a hare almost always becomes abrupt and unexpected. He runs away very quickly, tries to stick to bushes and grass, so it is extremely difficult to shoot at him.

Now about elk hunting. On the "Khardikova Zaimka" they often hunt for him. In these places of the Tomsk region, there are especially a lot of elk, the proximity of more southern regions affects. For example, if the snow depth is 70 cm or more, the animals lead a nomadic lifestyle, trying to find less snowy areas, and if it is 50 cm, then the moose remain in place. Frost has a great influence, especially a strong fortress. Then the animals try to burrow into loose snowdrifts, reducing heat transfer.

In winter, moose feed on tree bark, and often live in swampy areas with low bushes. Day and night at this time of the year they have the same, which makes it easier for hunters.

Before hunting, zero in with the cartridges that will be used. It is impossible to perform such an operation in a warm shooting range in winter, since the temperature in the room does not correspond to real conditions.

Driving a large animal requires not only excellent shooting skills, but also self-control and patience. Weapons must always be kept ready. Before the start of the rut, you need to try to keep the “working” hand warm. This will ensure the smoothness of pressing the trigger.

Clothing should be as warm as possible, but should not make any sound. Silence and the rest of the ammunition are welcome. Since the moose has a sensitive hearing, it is difficult to get close to him in calm weather. In this case, it is recommended to use hunting skis (wide and short with special bindings), a camouflage robe, gloves, and a white thread cap.

In recent years, winter fishing has become widespread at Khardikova Zaimka. There is even an opinion that there are more summer anglers (“winterers”). According to many, fishing in winter is the most exciting, healthy and at the same time accessible to everyone sport.

This type of fishing is practiced by many thousands of people of various professions and ages. They spend whole days, from early morning until evening, on the ice of reservoirs, patiently enduring all the vagaries of unstable weather.

It must be said that clean frosty air, together with sports interest and unique impressions from winter fishing, have a beneficial effect on the human body, as well as physical activity from small transitions and work with an ice pick or an ice screw. And the winter fisherman can really have a good rest, gain fresh strength. After a week of work, it is both pleasant and useful to sit in the fresh air with a fishing rod by the hole you have made in the thickness of the ice. Some of the conveniences of winter fishing lie in the fact that at this time there are fewer tackles in the arsenal of anglers, however, the number of actively feeding fish is also limited, but you can move around the reservoir as if on land, go to the most difficult or completely inaccessible areas in summer. And there are a number of advantages: it is easy to find the greatest depths from the ice, accurately mark catchy places, and without much difficulty bring out large fish, which in the summer would have to tinker with. The mass character of winter fishing is increasing every year: the ranks of experienced winter anglers are replenished with a significant number of beginners who have taken to the ice for the first time.

In a word, Khardikova Zaimka is a good place for your rest. Will more than replace your "hot tours" abroad. There will be many impressions, and you will no doubt be satisfied.

Hunting farm "Southern region" - Hunting in the Stavropol Territory, hunting and fishing in the Stavropol Territory

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If you are planning to go fishing or hunting in the Stavropol Territory, choose the Southern Region hunting estate. Optimal conditions have been created here in order to spend time outdoors and get trophies in full compliance with the requirements of the law.

Features of the location

The hunting estate "Southern region" consists of six lands, which are located separately. They are located in various parts of the Turkmen and Petrovsky districts of the Stavropol Territory. There is also another hunting farm LLC "Akvadom", which is located on the territory of the First Arzgirsky land of the Arzgirsky district, mainly hunting is carried out on waterfowl and fur-bearing animals.

Here conditions are created both for fishing and for the extraction of a variety of game. The total area of the land is 376 thousand hectares, while the length is 140 km.

One of the features of the farm is that three main natural zones are connected here at once. These include such as:

- Forest-steppe.
- Semi-desert.
- Steppe.

Flora and fauna vary from location to location, so hunters can always find a location that best suits both their skills and their equipment.

Features of fishing

If you want to go fishing in the southern region of Stavropol, our farm offers a lot of opportunities for this. Fishing takes place in the Chogray reservoir. Here you can engage in a variety of options for fishing, regardless of your initial level of training. You can bring home a lot of different fish - catfish, pike, roach, vobla, pike perch and many others.

One of the features is that here you can go fishing, both with the use of special tackle and with a regular fishing rod and float.