Punt With A Scavenger Hunt

One of the sayings I heard from the boys on the football team was, "When all else fails, punt!"  You can do that quite successfully with a scavenger hunt for your Open House or the first day of school. 

Sometimes teachers need a few quiet moments to get their sanity back and have their students doing something to keep them occupied, while they tackle that "paper mountain" of administrative duties on the first day of school. 

Why not go on an alphabetical scavenger hunt?  "Go exploring and you will see, things in our classroom from A to Z!"

These ideas come from my 28-page ABC Scavenger Hunt booklet.  I'm posting the check list as a freebie through the 31st of July.

Here's how:

• Run off copies of my Alphabetical Scavenger Hunt.  Click on the link to view/print it.
• Tell the students that they are going to be ABCDe-tectives!
• Handout a clipboard and  yellow highlighter along with the ABC check list to each student.

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• I've got adorable badges and magnifying glasses in the booklet to make this even more fun and "detective-like".
  

• Review the list with them so that they know what they are looking for.
• Even if they don't know how to read, they should be able to understand and find the picture next to the letter.
  
• When they find an object on the list, they color in the small circle.

• When everyone is done, review the letters of the alphabet again.
• Ask students if they can think of anything else that they see in the room that starts with that letter, like p is for pencil, but there's also lots of pens, paper and pupils in the classroom too!
• Make the sound of each letter as you say the object that they found and call on a child to point to it.

• I have used this list to make 38- Read-Around-The-Room cards too. 
• They can be put up for the scavenger hunt so they can locate the word as well as the object, or you can put them up later, or to save you time, have students put them up as they point to the object.

I always include a cover template for the word cards so that you can run off a set for students to cut, sequence and make into Itty Bitty booklets. 

Children enjoy these "just-the-right-size" books. 

26-upper and lowercase alphabet cards are also included as well as 38-picture cards. 

These can be made into several different kinds of Itty Bitty Booklets or used in a Memory Match or "Find the Pairs" Game.

All the word cards are traceable for handwriting practice.  My Y5's enjoy using a highlighter every chance they get. 

• Sing the alphabet song and allow a child to hold a light-up laser to point to the letters on your ABC border.
• Graph the activity for a math extension.
• When everyone is done, I pass out a certificate of praise for them to write their name on and take home.  These are included in the ABC Scavenger Hunt packet that's only .99 cents.
  

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Click on the links to check things out.

My ABC School-Words Dictionary booklet, goes perfectly with the scavenger hunt, as the pictures and words match! 

It's a wonderful activity for students to transition to, after they complete their ABC scavenger hunt.  The dictionary is something that they can work on at their own pace through out the month of September and makes a nice keepsake. 

Students trace and then write the words for a nice fine motor skill and handwriting extension. Both upper and lowercase letters are shown for the perfect letter review as well! Click on the link above to check it out.

Be sure to pop back Friday when I'll tell you about my Open House Scavenger Hunt!