A Gorgeous Fall Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt

We recently had our annual fall break otherwise known as “M.E.A.” to us Minnesotans, and I wanted to take advantage of this extra time off from teaching to enrich Bean’s life with some fun adventures.

I am an utterly hopeless fall freak and it seems that this fall has been unusually beautiful, so I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and scenery and take the average nature walk a step up with a fall scavenger hunt.

I did a little brain-storming and Pinterest researching and came up with a short list of fall find-ables. Being the frugal gal that I am, I took a bag we had lying around the house and wrote down a short list of things for Bean and I to find on our walk.

• Leaves
• Something rough
• Pine cone
• Tree bark
• Rock
• Flowers
• Stick
• Something red
• Something fuzzy

We are lucky enough to live by a system of gorgeous trails just a few steps from our front door. Off we went to see what fall treasures we could find.

Ok, so maybe this walk was more about me taking advantage of the beautiful fall colors and taking photos of Bean. She sure had a blast running through the crunchy fall leaves. Once I explained to her we were finding “treasures” she was really into hunting for our list of fall items.

But seriously you guys, this year’s Minnesota fall is unheard of. Last year at this time it would be snowing within a week. This year it’s 70 degrees and BEAUTIFUL. Praise the Lord, this is why I hang in there and love on Minnesota. You beautiful, tempestuous beast of a state, I love you.

Bean’s favorite part of the nature walk, by far, was running through the crunchy leaves. We have a few mature trees on our lot but not enough to make leaves a nuisance (which is sort of a good thing, I know) so she’s not really gotten to enjoy the childlike joy of tromping through a pile of crunchy leaves until now. Kids really do give you a chance to relive your childhood and that is AWESOME.

If you’re in an area of the country where you can still enjoy the last few bits of fall, I encourage you to take a little fall scavenger hunt walk. It will get you observing and enjoying the sights of nature that you wouldn’t have thought to appreciate just by simply walking past. Especially the furry weeds. Bean loved those darn fuzzy weeds.