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While worksheets and books are a great way to help your kids learn the alphabet, all that busy work can quickly get boring. That’s why it’s important to incorporate interactive learning into your curriculum. Active games are a great way to help your kids learn and play at the same time. With this fun alphabet scavenger hunt, your kids can practice reading letters and words while playing an entertaining game.
This is such a fun way to learn! Our family has always enjoyed scavenger hunts. You can find all our favourites here.
Supplies needed:
- Printable scavenger hunt pages
- Pencil or dry erase marker
- optional: plastic sheet protector or laminator if using a dry erase marker
Instructions:
- Download the printable scavenger hunt and print out the pages.
- Ask your child to find the items on the list.
- When they find an item, they can mark it off by putting a check or X in the box next to it.
Alphabet Scavenger Hunt Printable
This printable alphabet scavenger hunt is perfect for preschoolers who are just beginning to learn their letters or beginning readers in kindergarten. The printable scavenger hunt features each letter of the alphabet, along with a simple word and picture to correspond with each letter:
- A for art
- B for book
- C for clothes
- D for door
- E for empty
- F for furniture
- G for gift
- H for hard
- I for ice
- J for jar
- K for kitchen
- L for letter
- M for move
- N for nine
- O for orange
- P for pencil
- Q for quiet
- R for ring
- S for soft
- T for toy
- U for up
- V for vegetable
- W for water
- X for exit
- Y for yard
- Z for zipper
As they play, preschoolers can identify each letter and say the sound that it makes. After that, they can use the pictures as clues to help them determine what they need to find for each letter.
And Kindergarteners can read the letter and the word next to it to find each item on the list. The pictures next to each letter and word can provide context clues to help them figure out what each word says.
After identifying the letter and word they need to search for, your kids can start looking around their surroundings to find the different things on the list. When they find something, they can mark it off the list using the blank box next to each letter. After all the boxes are checked, the game is over. 
Scavenger Hunt Ideas
After printing out your scavenger hunt pages, your kids can have a blast learning and playing! Try these tips to ensure your kids make the most of their printable worksheets.
Laminate the pages to reuse them. Your kids can play the game over and over again if you laminate the pages. After printing the scavenger hunt, laminate each page. Then, let your kids use dry erase markers to check off the items when they find them. After the game is over, simply erase the marks so the pages can be used again.
Use a page protector. If you don’t have a laminator at home, you can still preserve the sheets for future use. Just place the pages in a plastic page protector. Your kids can use dry erase markers to check off each box. And you can erase the marks when they’re finished playing.
Discuss each letter and word before you start. When your kids start playing the game, they may get too excited to listen and think about the words on the page. Before you send your kids off the begin their search, it’s a good idea to go through each letter and word so they understand what they need to do. Give them a chance to read the letter and word, as well as look at the picture next to it. Then discuss different things they could search for that go along with the word and where they might be able to find those items.
Encourage creativity. This open-ended game is perfect for encouraging creativity with your kids. Make sure they know that the words for each letter can be interpreted differently, allowing them to find a variety of different items for each letter. The word art, for example, could be a picture, painting, or even an art supply.
Include older kids. While this game at a glance is for preschoolers and early readers, older kids can get involved so that the whole family can play. With older kids, just encourage them to think outside the box. Be creative.
Take the hunt outside your home. There’s no reason your kids need to restrict their search to your home. You can take the printable hunt with you as you’re out and about. Try taking the pages to these places to give your kids a chance to search for new items on the list:
- library
- in the car
- grocery store
- doctor or dentist’s office
- a walk around the neighbourhood
Change up the game each time. After your kids have played this scavenger hunt game once, you might think there’s no use in keeping the printable sheets and using them again. But there is a simple way to keep the game fresh each time you use it and challenge your children to think outside the box. Just tell them they can’t use the same item more than once. So, if they found their bedroom door for the letter D last time they played, that door is now off limits for the next round! This easy tactic will make the game more challenging each time your kids play, forcing them to use their critical thinking skills during each round.
Sign up below to get your free printable Alphabet Scavenger Hunt.
Check out some of our other scavenger hunts:
- Family Bundle of Scavenger Hunts
- Road Trip Scavenger Hunt
- Outdoor Sensory Scavenger Hunt
- Backyard Photo Scavenger Hunt
- The Put Away Scavenger Hunt
