Rock Scavenger Hunt

So tired of assessing!!!! How many assessments can 6-7 year olds take the first few weeks of school??? Can we just let them be kids for just a bit? My district’s Math Coach sent me a cool picture of rocks that a math teacher hid all around her school with math problems on the backside and it got us thinking…how could we use a fun activity like a Rock Scavenger Hunt to trick our kids into completing one more assessment in a fun way?

We used the observations and notes we took to know if our students could count, subitize, add simple computation problems, and observe their math reasoning. All this while they ran around and hunted for rocks?!? Sounds like a project I’m interested in!!! How about you?

Recreate this activity with these necessities…

• Rocks – We chose to use 20 rocks. Amy, our Math Coach, painted them for us. We used a sharpie to write simple problems on the backsides.
• Clipboards and pencils
• Answer Sheet – I’ll share mine at the end of this post.
• 20-30 minutes
• A shady spot if you do this in the summer. The Georgia heat, humidity, and sun was a bad combination. Lesson learned the hard way.

How does this work exactly?

We started off showing the students the area that all 20 rocks where hidden. We gave them clear boundaries. Students found a rock and looked at the number on the painted side. Then they found that number on their worksheet. They flipped the rock over and solved the math problem in that box on their answer sheet. Students then were asked to leave the rock where they found it…this was the most difficult part. Students wanted to run off with the rock and show their friends. Keep this in mind as you give directions. It caused a little confusion as to if they had already found that rock or not since it wasn’t in its original spot. We also somehow lost a rock…#14 we will find you one day!!! Tip, maybe don’t paint the rocks shades of green. You can thank me later!

Best Day Ever

The kiddos LOVED this activity. It got them up and moving while I circulated and assisted, jotted down observations and notes, and snapped lots of pictures to share with their parents. On the back of their paper, there was a quick “Crack the Code” that once solved read “Now Go Find Your Teacher!” I had a snack for them to enjoy after while the others finished the hunt. Want to recreate this Math Rock Scavenger Hunt for your class? I sure hope you do! Click here to download my free template that my class used.