Surviving the Store with a Scavenger Hunt

Normally, I try to save my errands for the weekends or evenings to avoid disrupting our homeschool schedule with trips around town.  Yesterday, however, I had several items that I urgently needed and the shopping trip to get them couldn't wait any longer.  Knowing I'd be distracted looking for the things I need, I didn't want to neglect the J-Rex's schooling for the duration of the trip and I also wanted to avoid the inevitable chaos that typically accompanies store trips with young children.  So, I decided to turn our errand into an adventuresome scavenger hunt that incorporated math concepts we're currently working on, visual scanning practice (this happens pretty much any time you tell a visually impaired youngster to look for something), and basic economic concepts:

TARGET Scavenger Hunt*

13+ points will get you a special treat!

Search & Find 

Find the following items and take a picture with each item. 1 point each 

· A price tag whose digits add up to 25 

· Something from a past holiday 

· Something tye-dyed 

· Something with a frog on it 

· Something from another culture 

Trivia Questions 

Find the answer to each of the following trivia questions. 2 points each 

· How much does it cost to buy a kid’s combo meal? What would you get for your money? 

· How many dressing room stalls are there? What is half that number? 

· What are the store hours on Saturdays? How many hours is the store open that day? 

· How many checkout stands are there? How many are open? Write this as a fraction: 

· What year was this Target location built? Is it older or younger than you?

*Adapted from Mayhem Managed’s Target Madness Scavenger Hunt.

All in all, the scavenger hunt was a resounding success! The activity kept the J-Rex sufficiently distracted for me to get my shopping done and she reviewed some math concepts she needs practice on.  Does it even get better than this? It probably does, but that doesn't lessen my joy at having found a new technique to mesh life and learning in a way that keeps me from going crazy as an added benefit.

On a side note, I was able to add to our economic learning by telling the J-Rex to bring a $20 she had been gifted recently to spend or save any way she wanted at the store.  This gave us an excellent opportunity to discuss factors that can affect our spending choices and the value of a dollar.  In the end, she wanted to spend it all but managed to choose something she'd been wanting for a long time and would use a lot: ballet shoes and a leotard.  It was fascinating seeing her work through the process of, at first, wanting to simply pick the first toy she saw, then debating various things she needed, and finally coming to a decision on something that would allow her to get quite a bit of use out of the money she spent.  I was even rewarded with a spontaneous ballet/modern dance performance from the J-Rex later in the evening!

...from our evening journaling...