Solar System Scavenger Hunt

This solar system scavenger is such a fun way for young kids to learn about outer space. My kids had a blast running around the house searching for planets!

My kids are huge fans of scavenger hunts. I can teach them anything if I turn it into some kind of hunt. I took it up a notch this time because I surprised them with this cool 3-D solar system. Once they found the first planet, they were even more excited to find the rest.

Supplies Needed:

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3-D Solar System (The one I have is not available anymore, but this one looks great except that it doesn’t include the sun.)
Black construction paper (optional)

Hide the planets all around the house.
Tape sheets of construction paper together to act as a space backdrop. You could even draw stars on it with yellow/white crayon. I wish I would have thought of that when I put this together!

Solar System Scavenger Hunt

I had the kids hide in another area of the house while I went around the and hid the planets. I called them in and explained that they were going on a solar system scavenger hunt. They were super excited!

I instructed them to search around for planets. Once they found one, they were to put it in outer space (the black paper). They immediately began running around the house looking for planets.

After a bit of looking they found the first one and were so happy to see that it was a cool 3-D planet. They wanted to stop right there and play with the planet. I quickly convinced them that it would be even more fun to play with a solar system full of planets.

Eventually, they found all of the planets and had them all in outer space. Then we consulted a picture of the order of the planets and used it to help us place the planets in order on the paper. We set the sun in front of the planets to represent the fact that they orbit the sun. We also talked about the planet names, their features and colors.