Map Skills for Kids: Backyard Treasure Hunt

Treasure hunt!!! My second grader had so much fun creating her own map and then using it for a super silly backyard treasure hunt! Such a fun way to build map skills for kids. We talked about landmarks, worked on labeling and practiced map making all in one great activity!

When I first told Jaida that we were going to make a map, she wasn’t exactly thrilled.

That may be an understatement…

She thought that meant that she needed to include every possible detail about our yard and house.

So, I clarified and we agreed that she could just choose the more generic things like the road, the big tree in front, the driveway, garage, etc.

She has a great tendency to be a perfectionist.

In the end she drew a fabulous map (which I didn’t get a clear picture of because we were having too much fun…)

She even included the not-so-secret Secret Hideout in the backyard. And she included landmarks like the front stoop.

After she was finished drawing we decided to have a treasure hunt.

Only she wanted to hide the treasure.

And find the treasure.

Not quite sure how that works…

She had a blast following her map to find where she had hidden her treasures.

Which happened to be black pom poms.

Then she decided to hide them again, so that her older sisters could test out her treasure map.

She must have done a terrific job because they found all the treasures!

Jaida really loved working on map skills with this activity because it involved drawing, which she would do all day long if I would let her.

We also worked on spelling by labeling the various parts of the map.

More outdoor learning activities from the Early Elementary Blogging Team:

Nests Nature Hunt for Kids from Still Playing School

How to Make an Outdoor Mud Kitchen from Parenting Chaos

Outside Arrays for Multiplication Practice from Line Upon Line Learning

Sidewalk Chalk Outdoor Math Game from Look! We’re Learning!

Gardening For Math Time from Preschool Powol Packets

Tree Unit Study and Science Experiment from Schooling a Monkey