Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt for Toddlers

This grocery store scavenger hunt is a great way to teach your toddler about different types of food, different colors AND will help keep them occupied at the store!

I feel like poor Henry spends a LOT of his time at the grocery store/Target. I don’t really think he minds it all that much, but sometimes I feel bad that we are walking around the store instead of doing something more fun. Mom guilt is a weird thing haha.

This week is especially busy getting ready for a camping trip this weekend. I knew we would be at the store even more than normal which is where the idea for this little “scavenger hunt” was born. It’s an activity that not only helps teach him some new food and color vocabulary but ALSO gives him something to do at the grocery store! Win-win!

Henry is only 14 months–so it’s not like he was doing this activity independently–not even close 😉 But sometimes little ones are more capable than you give them credit for. With some support Henry was able to find all the items on his list! Read on to learn how to make a grocery store scavenger hunt, for free the grocery store scavenger hunt printable & how to use them all in several different ways!

How to make a DIY Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt:

I stopped by the store to grab an ad earlier in the week and cut out pictures of items that I thought Henry would be able to identify by looking at the picture. I simply taped them on cardstock, labeled the pictures and drew some checkboxes. Sometimes we take stickers and sometimes I quickly check off the boxes for Henry, but older kids could defintley use a crayon and do it themselves!

I try and choose items that I know that Henry is familiar with. I also don’t include junk food or items that I don’t want to purchase–because you don’t need any more reasons for tantrums, right?!

Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt Printables

I also made these printable grocery store scavenger hunts if DIY isn’t your style 😉 Simply print one off, grab some stickers (or a crayon) and off you go!

I tried to use realistic photographs, rather than cartoon like drawings, because children learn new vocabulary best when they see it accurately represented. There is a fruit scavenger hunt and a vegetable scavenger hunt.

Click here or on the picture below to download your printable grocery store scavenger hunts!

How to use the grocery store scavenger hunts:

I let Henry hold the list in the store (I held the stickers). When we were near one of the objects I pointed to it on the list and said something along the lines of “Look! This a peach–can you find a peach over here?” and would gesture to the general vicinity where the peaches were. After he pointed to it I would say “Yay! You found the peach! Great job!”, give him one sticker and help him place it on the checkbox. I also let him hold the object that he found so he could see it up close.

So for my 14 month old this activity was mostly about exposure to the different foods, learning new vocabulary and making connections between representations (pictures) and real objects. An older toddler would probably have enough background knowledge to find the items without as much help and you can always make it more challenging if needed!

How to reuse your grocery store scavenger hunt:

If you would like to reuse them you could laminate them and use a dry erase marker to check the boxes! If you don’t have a laminator (most people who aren’t teachers probably don’t have one) you could use self sealing laminating pouches OR slip the paper into a plastic page protector (tape the opening) and it will work in a similar way with a dry erase marker! Printing on white cardstock is also great because it helps make any of the above options more sturdy.

Other ways to play!

Taste test: Take all of the food home, cut them into little pieces, use a toothpick to sample the food and have a “taste test”. You never know what they might try! 😉 This is another way to talk about the new words again–“Look! Here is the yellow banana that we found. I wonder what it tastes like? The banana tastes sweet, etc)

Fruit or veggie salad: After shopping for the ingredients you could take them home and make a salad to enjoy together!

Imaginative play: Do the scavenger hunt at home with play food OR with food that you already have in your pantry or refrigerator!

Look at the ad with your little one and create the list together! This will really help get them involved with the shopping and might make them more apt to try some new healthy foods 🙂

I hope you and your little one enjoy this activity!

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