Halloween Nature Scavenger Hunt

 

I love celebrating Halloween!  But as a mother of a 2 ½ year old, I have to be careful how I celebrate and how much exposure to spooky costumes and decorations my child can endure.  Otherwise, I’ll be in for some long nights well after Halloween.  Therefore, around my house, I have decorations and books of ghosts, pumpkins, and bats that are all very cute to help ease her into Halloween.  However, I can’t control what my child might find in the neighborhood where we will be trick or treating.  So I decided to take my daughter on a Halloween nature scavenger hunt in my neighborhood before the big day to get her a little prepared for some of the more scary looking decorations she might encounter.  You can too!

The idea is to teach our children about the real things found in nature that are used in spooky decorations so our children are not as afraid of them.  For the scavenger hunt, you’ll need to design an activity sheet with pictures of things found in nature that are often depicted in Halloween decorations (examples may include owls, bugs, snakes, lizards, toads, snails, slugs, spider webs, bats, black birds, black cats, pumpkins, dormant trees, the moon, dead leaves, etc.).  Think about the area where you live and what kinds of things you may find in nature at this time of year and collect pictures of those items onto a sheet or two of paper.  Then go on a walk around the neighborhood to find them. 

Let your child know that he or she may not find all of the items pictured on the scavenger hunt activity sheet, but that they are all things that can naturally be found around the neighborhood.  You may want to bring a walking stick or just a strong stick with you that you can use as a pointer, but let your child know it is only to be used for pointing and not for touching animals.  The stick is also for the parent to use to gently move plants, logs, or rocks to assist you in looking for animals.  Just make sure that anything moved during your walk is gently placed back where you found it.  And please follow instructions from my October 5, 2014 post, “Rules of the Nature Trail” concerning the touching of animals.

Your child will probably notice many of the Halloween decorations in your neighbors’ yards while on your walk.  Remind your child that decorations are for pretend and for fun (it’s also good to see the scary decorations during the daytime) and feel free to focus on decorations that are like the real things you are searching for during your scavenger hunt.  Once you start finding items, observe them and talk a little about each one.  For example, look at a tree with no leaves.  It looks spooky because it doesn’t look alive with color, but it is alive (it’s just “resting” at this time of year) and will grow many new leaves in the spring.  Under the same tree, you’ll probably find a lot of brown, dried leaves that fell off of the tree.  They seem spooky because again they are not alive with color, and they make a crunching sound when you step on them.  Allow your child to walk around in the leaves to hear the crunching sound.  That sound can also be scary because it may mean that something is walking around near you.  At night, you might not be able to see what that something is; but most likely, it’s just a woodland animal or even a pet dog or cat in the neighborhood.

Most of the animals featured in Halloween decorations are used because they are not much like us, automatically making them creepy and less endearing to children.  This includes many scaly reptiles, warty toads, and creepy crawly bugs.  Children can be taught, however, that just because they aren’t like us, that shouldn’t automatically make them scary.  Differences are good!  For example, a snake’s scales help it move since it doesn’t have legs, and they are protection from sharp sticks and rocks on the ground where it moves.  Likewise, a toad’s warty skin gives it protection from the harsh sun and from predators.  They do not give people warts!  As for bugs, most of them get a bad reputation because of a small number of bugs that bite or sting, have venom, or can even spread diseases.  But there are many more beneficial and harmless bugs that need our support such as the dragonfly, butterfly, European honey bee, praying mantis, ladybug, and millipede, just to name a few.  Other creepy crawlies include slugs, snails, and worms, which are completely harmless unless they are eating away your garden.  But in small numbers, they actually aid in natural decomposition and seed germination, which can be good for your garden.  These creepy crawlies are also slimy, and therefore considered icky by many people.  But that slime is important to protect their bodies and keep them moist.  Then there is the most common creepy crawly Halloween decoration of them all, the spider.  Yes, all spiders have venom, making them seem very scary.  However, very few have venom strong enough to harm humans.  A spider’s venom is primarily used to help it digest food.  And if you don’t like creepy crawly bugs, spiders along with many other animals featured in Halloween decorations do a good job of controlling bug populations.

Other animals found as Halloween decorations include about anything with black fur, feathers, or scales.  But black coloration in animals is an adaptation that allows them to better hide, or at least not be seen easily at night.  Otherwise, they are not really different from their more colorful cousins.  A black cat is not any more dangerous than a brown tabby.  In fact, in the US, black snakes are all non venomous, making them less dangerous than some of the more colorful snakes.  It is true that big black birds such as crows, ravens, and vultures seem to be attracted to dead animals, but they are scavengers.  That’s what they eat.  They are part of nature’s cleanup crew.

You don’t need to discuss each item you find along your walk in depth.  Pay attention to your child.  He or she will let you know what is scary to them.  Help your child see the importance in what he or she thinks is scary.  Children don’t have to like everything in nature; they just need to understand it a little better.  Hopefully this Halloween nature scavenger hunt will provide your child with the knowledge needed to make Halloween a little less scary and a lot more fun!