Home Lifestyle Motherhood Printables

Summer Scavenger Hunt (in your backyard!)

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #TopYourSummer #SoHoppinGood #CollectiveBias

This past weekend the weather was so nice, I thought it would be fun to eat dinner outside, do a little nature scavenger hunt with the boys, and then have an ice cream sundae party! If the boys had it their way we’d be going out for ice cream every night – not happening – so I knew they’d love this fun surprise! 😉

The kids loved the scavenger hunt so much I thought I’d load it up onto the blog for you to download and have your own little backyard nature hunt. It’s something different and fun, and definitely beats watching TV or going to a busy restaurant, plus there isn’t much to it! Here’s what we did…

1. Print your scavenger hunt checklists and gather up some fun markers or other writing utensils (Click here to download the printable checklist)

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

2. Put your names on them! This step is optional, obviously. Kids!

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

3. Get hunting! I might have popped in to supervise, just to make sure no one was cheating. 

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

4. Check the items off as you go.

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

5. Celebrate when you’ve found them all!

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

Fun, right? The boys were SO excited to get to the sundae making station, of course. I took a quick trip to Walmart the morning of our little backyard shindig to see what I could pull together for desserts. Ice cream and fun toppings are always Better Together! 

My local Walmart had a whole selection of ice cream toppings in the same aisle as the peanut butter and jelly, it was a little overwhelming at first, but I love that Smucker’s brand has so many different options to choose. 

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

I ended up picking up a few different Magic Shell toppings because the kids always ask for those when we go out for ice cream. I had whipped cream, fruit and fun sprinkles at home, so I grabbed some cherries and Blue Bunny® ice cream. I love that the Smucker’s magic shell and the Blue Bunny Homemade Vanilla ice cream only have a few (real food) ingredients – and that they don’t use corn syrup (but of course Mr. Kirk opted for the Bunny Tracks ice cream!) Bonus: You can earn cash back on Smucker’s Ice Cream Toppings with the free Ibotta app!

Here’s how I set up our little ice cream sundae station:

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

How cute is that!? If you saw last week’s pudding parfait post, you’ll know that I have this wooden electrical spool hanging out in my backyard from our vow renewal last fall, and that it now doubles as an extra outdoor table. It always seems to be the perfect size for snack (or sundae) parties! The milk jug is just another piece we’ve had and used as a planter in the yard, we haven’t planted flowers yet this year so I threw a wood slab on top and used it to hold the ice cream in a big bowl full of ice. Do you like my pine cone accents?! I thought that would give the boys a giggle since we were doing a scavenger hunt and one of the items on the list was a pinecone!

The ice cream scoops I grabbed at Walmart for .88 cents each – I knew the boys would love to have their own, plus believe it or not they’re pretty sturdy and much simpler to use than our metal one with the button. Everything else I had around the house and just gathered it up to make our night fun. One of these days I’ll put together a post of some things that I always use for little parties like this – but if you read through some of my posts you’ll see a lot of the same items. 

Here’s what we ended up having for toppings:

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

Once the scavenger hunt was finished, we all went to town with building sundaes!

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

And then of course eating them… 

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

Someone liked the cherries! Did you notice the untucked onesie? It was a long day haha!

I hope you are able to plan your own summertime adventures with the family – and celebrate with an ice cream sundae party! Smucker’s makes it so easy to have your favorite ice cream shop toppings at home, and they have a large variety with something for everyone. 

Be sure to follow me on Instagram and Pinterest for more fun backyard adventures this summer, and if you’re planning one of your own, tell me about it in the comments below!

Click here to see more Smucker’s and Blue Bunny combos that are so hoppin’ good!

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

Backyard scavenger hunt | Free printable backyard nature hunt | Host a scavenger hunt ice cream party in your backyard! GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

 

You Might Also Like

5 Comments

  • Reply
    Doris
    May 28, 2016 at 12:01 pm

    Wow, I love this ice cream corner!! Really great inspiration.

  • Reply
    Michelle Thevenot, blogger at MT Bottles
    May 28, 2016 at 2:38 pm

    Oh. My. Gosh! That ice cream sundae station is too cute. What a memorable event for you and the kids! I’m sure they’ll look back on all the work you put into this activity and remember it fondly for many years.

  • Reply
    Cheap Birthday Party Ideas- Part One
    June 1, 2016 at 9:26 am

    […] hunt party– My friend Gina did this recently for her son’s birthday party and they had an ice cream station after the scavenger hunt!  How fun would that be for kids!  […]

  • Reply
    Donna Barry
    June 28, 2016 at 8:04 pm

    Love , love this. As a follow up the kids can create a collage or a picture using items from the scavenger hunt..

    • Reply
      Gina
      July 27, 2016 at 2:34 am

      Great idea Donna! So glad you love it 🙂 I’ll keep that in mind for the future!

    Leave a Reply to Donna Barry Cancel Reply