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Measure It Scavenger Hunt Basket
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Measure It Scavenger Hunt Basket

A tape measure, a stack of hunt cards, and a house suddenly full of things that need measuring. Real maths, disguised as running around.

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Ages 5-95 min prep

My daughter came home from school knowing what a centimetre was in theory and having absolutely no feel for it. Then she got hold of a retractable tape measure and measured the entire house.

That is the whole idea here: give the number somewhere to live. Once she had measured her own foot, everything else got compared to it for a week.

The cards just give the hunt a shape so it does not fizzle out after the third object.

Measuring a leaf end to end, then writing it down before it curls up.
Measuring a leaf end to end, then writing it down before it curls up.
The record sheet after a morning - guessing, measuring, correcting.
The record sheet after a morning - guessing, measuring, correcting.
Ordering objects shortest to longest before anything is measured.
Ordering objects shortest to longest before anything is measured.

What you'll need

  • The printable measuring pack (download below) - hunt cards, a record sheet, a paper ruler and ordering strips
  • A child-sized retractable tape measure, ideally one that locks
  • A clipboard and a pencil - the clipboard genuinely doubles how long this lasts
  • A basket for carrying the finds back to the table
  • Optional: a length of string for measuring things that are not straight
  • Optional: a kitchen scale, if your child starts asking about heavy and light too

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How to make it

  1. 1

    Print the pack and cut the hunt cards apart. Clip the record sheet to the clipboard.

  2. 2

    Show the tape measure properly first: where zero is, how to lock it, how to read the nearest whole centimetre.

  3. 3

    Draw a card - find something longer than your hand - and let your child run off with it.

  4. 4

    Everything found gets measured and written on the record sheet, even if the writing is wobbly.

  5. 5

    Use the paper ruler for small things at the table, and the tape measure for doorways, sofas and the dog.

  6. 6

    Cut out the ordering strips and lay them shortest to longest before measuring - guess first, then check.

  7. 7

    Finish with a body measure: hand span, foot, arm, height against the door frame. Date it in pencil and do it again in six months.

  8. 8

    For older children, add a guess column to the record sheet and score a point for every guess within two centimetres.

Tip

Round everything to whole centimetres to start. Precision is not the lesson - the lesson is that numbers describe real things. Tape the paper ruler to a lolly stick and it stops flopping about.

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