Nature trivia walks (tipspromenad) are a cherished tradition in my native Sweden and a fun outdoor activity for the whole family. If you’re looking for outdoor birthday party ideas that work any time of the year, or need some inspiration for your local nature play group or homeschool co-op, look no further!
If you’ve never done a trivia walk before, don’t fret – it’s easy peasy! In short, you put up a set number of questions along a trail or around the neighborhood, then walk the route and write down your answers on an answer sheet. The person with the most right answers wins. (More details are at the end of this post and included in the printable.) In Sweden it’s common to walk it as a family, with two sets of questions: one for the adults and one for the kids, but this nature trivia walk only has questions for children.
The questions are suitable for children aged approximately 6-9 years, but younger children can definitely participate with the help of an adult or older child. Some of the questions are harder than others, but the beauty of these types of trivia walks is that they are multiple choice, so even if you don’t know the answer you can guess. The questions for this particular trivia walk focus on winter. If it’s not winter where you live, you may also want to check out this trivia walk, which is nature-themed but does not focus on a particular season.
Instructions:
1. Print out the nature trivia package. You need one copy of all the pages except for the Answer Sheet, of which you need one for each participating child. The Answer Sheet is where the children fill out their answers.
2. Prepare a tiebreaker question and write it down on the blank tiebreaker sheet included with the download. This could be as simple as placing a large number of beans or seeds in a glass jar and let the children guess how many are in it. The question should be difficult enough that you’re unlikely to get the same answer from any two children.
3. Pin or tape the questions along a nature trail, around the neighborhood, or even your backyard. If you cover a large area, tie bright-colored ribbons on trees to mark the trail – the kids will love following them to the next question!
4. Go! Depending on your location, older children can walk by themselves but younger ones may need help from an adult. Try to space them out a little bit, so they don’t all hover over the same question at once. Make sure the kids understand how to fill out the Answer Sheets before they head out!
5. Gather the Answer Sheets from the children and check them, using the Key. Tip: On the Key, cut out the boxes with the right answers and place the Key over each child’s Answer Sheet as you correct it, in order to speed up the process. The child with the most correct answers wins. If two or more children have the same amount of correct answers the tie breaker question will determine the winner.
6. Go through the correct answers with the children and announce the winner.
7. Optional: Give a prize to the winner.
Have fun!
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