Katrena's Scavenger Hunt #19 Under the Seas

Katrena's Scavenger Hunt #19 Under the Seas at Wildflower Bouquets

What is more fun than finding hidden treasure? This scavenger hunt focuses on plants and animals that live under the seas. This scavenger hunt works well with a water-themed or pirate-themed party. If you have multiple children playing, consider giving each child a small box (treasure chest) to color and decorate while you are hiding the clues. As players find each letter of the hidden message, they can place the letter in the treasure chest until the end when they assemble the letters to create the hidden message. (See graphics below.)

After everyone has completed the scavenger hunt, you might plan to have water games for a grand finale! This could be as simple as purchasing a few squirt bottles such as those that hold mustard and catsup and filling them with water. Hand them to the kids...I doubt that you'll need an explanation. If the weather is not cooperating or if you don't want everyone soaking wet, you might consider turning out the lights and having a glowstick party and pretend to be underwater - I have included a link to my glowstick workout playlist at the bottom of this article.

If you wish to turn this into a more educational activity...

Before the scavenger hunt, find web pages with information about each sea animal or plant featured in the scavenger hunt and take a few minutes to learn 3-5 facts about each one before giving the next riddle and encourage players to act out being each sea plant or animal. This hunt also includes some challenging vocabulary words, such as echolocation and vigilant.

If you wish to encourage the artistic side...

Before the scavenger hunt, find and print coloring pages featuring each sea animal or plant featured in the scavenger hunt and have the players color each one as the hunt progresses or provide all coloring pages at the end. Or find a good, clear photo of each sea animal or plant featured in the scavenger hunt and have the players to draw their own version of each one while providing a wide variety of art supplies such as crayons, markers, glitter glue, colored paper/scissors/glue, etc. Or any combination of the above.

Directions

Have the players go to a room where you will not be hiding clues. My family did this as an indoor hunt, but it could be tweaked to be played outdoors.
Print the rhyming riddles, answers, clues (if needed), and hidden message below. If multiple children are playing, print a hidden message for each player and cut out each letter. Hide multiples of the same letter in each hiding spot. For example, hide all of the "u's" together with one riddle.
Keep the first riddle and hide each of the remaining riddles with one hidden message letter in the area described for answering the previous one - I've included hints for hiding the riddles; feel free to tweak as desired. The last hiding spot will only contain the last letter for the hidden message.
Give the players the first riddle and one letter for the hidden message. Have the player to read the riddle and determine the missing word.
As the players solve each riddle, give them a hint about where to hunt for the next riddle and letter.

NOTE: The hidden message letters spell Under the Seas. These letters may be hidden in the exact order for an easier level, or you may wish to scramble the order of letters and have players to assemble them at the end to discover the hidden message on their own. If the players are having a hard time solving the hidden message, you might start humming the song "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid.

If the players are having a hard time guessing the correct sea plant or animal, you can provide a word bank by cutting out the answers on the answer sheet and placing them in random order. Ask the player to pick out the answer that rhymes with the blue word in the riddle.