A nature scavenger hunt for the trail and the park

Somewhere around the first mile of a family hike, someone asks how much farther they have to go. Let's Tingo gives the kids something better to think about. You build a bingo board of things to find on the trail, everyone gets their own board from the same list, and the first to fill five in a row calls a Tingo.

It turns a walk in the woods into a nature scavenger hunt, with everyone looking at what's around them instead of how far is left.

Start a nature game
Two children crouch in the undergrowth of a pine forest, one holding a magnifying glass, looking closely at something on the ground.
A Let's Tingo board on a phone with nature finds marked, one row highlighted as a completed Tingo.
A family walks along a wooden boardwalk over a clear stream in a green forest.
Let's Tingo suggesting nature scavenger hunt finds, with options to keep or remove each one.

A nature walk scavenger hunt built for where you're going

Pick a game type, tell Let's Tingo you're heading to a state park with a lake and a waterfall trail, and it builds a list of finds from that: a woodpecker hole, a mossy log, a fern. Keep the good ones, reword or trash the rest, and add the waterfall at the turnaround point you're all walking toward.

In most games, finds are shared, so when anyone spots something, it shows up on every board that has it. The kids who run ahead and the grown-ups at the back are all playing the same game.

Hands hold up a phone to photograph a cluster of mushrooms growing on a log.

A hiking scavenger hunt for little legs

The finds that work best on a family hike are small and close: a track in the mud, a feather, a leaf bigger than your hand. They slow everyone down in a good way, and the youngest hikers get to be the ones who spot them first.

Pick a camera game and every find needs a photo. The photo stays with the find for the whole group to see, so by the time you're back at the car, the board holds a record of the whole hike.

Setting a nature game to end at the end of October.
Let's Tingo's results screen announcing the winner of a nature game and their prize.

One board for the whole season

You don't have to fit it all into one walk. Make it a timed game, set it to end when the season does, and every hike and park visit until then fills in a few more squares. Whoever has the most Tingos when it ends wins.

Name a prize when you set it up, like choosing the next trail or the first s'more at the campfire, and everyone sees what they're playing for.

Three friends in hiking jackets and backpacks look at a phone together on a forest trail.

Hiking games for a group of friends

The trail isn't only for families. Friends out for a Saturday hike, a couple on a long weekend in the mountains, or a hiking club on its monthly walk can all play on a board built for the trail they're on. Make it a join-any-time game, and anyone who catches up at the first overlook can join halfway through.

Nature scavenger hunt ideas to get your board started

These are the kind of finds that make a good nature scavenger hunt. Use them, change them, or let Let's Tingo suggest its own from what you tell it. For other occasions, browse more scavenger hunt ideas.

A long moss-covered log on the floor of a pine forest.

On the trail

  • Trail marker
  • Wooden bridge
  • Waterfall
  • Fallen tree
  • Mossy log
  • Big boulder
  • Stream crossing
  • Bench with a view
  • Rock stack
  • Overlook
  • Park ranger
  • Picnic shelter

Plants and trees

  • Fern
  • Pinecone
  • Acorn
  • Mushroom
  • Wildflower
  • Clover
  • Birch tree
  • Hollow tree
  • Berry bush
  • Giant leaf
  • Seed pod
  • Lichen

Animals and their signs

  • Woodpecker hole
  • Animal track
  • Feather
  • Squirrel
  • Chipmunk
  • Spider web
  • Butterfly
  • Bird's nest
  • Frog
  • Snail shell
  • Deer
  • Hawk overhead

Get your nature hike ready

Build the board the night before, and share it at the trailhead while everyone's lacing up their boots. The same game works for a neighborhood scavenger hunt on the walk around the block, camping games when you're staying the night, and homeschool field trips built around a nature lesson.

Joining a game is always free, in the app or in a browser. Plenty of games are free to make, too.

Start a nature game