Nature Walk Bingo Game (Free Printable)

Did you know that the Royal Children’s Hospital’s Child Health Poll revealed a startling statistic – only 45% of Australian children play outdoors most days?¹ The reality is not all children are enthusiastic nature players. Even though 94% of parents recognise the importance of outdoor play, more than 50% of children are more likely to spend playtime inside, with many on screens.

Taking a family walk together can be helpful for engaging children who need that little bit of extra motivation to spend time outside. Framing a walk together as an adventure can further pique their curiosity, and taking along a simple game, such as this Nature Walk Bingo Game, can be just the thing to inspire a spirit of adventure.

What is Nature Bingo?

Nature bingo is a simple, outdoor scavenger hunt, that invites children to search for items featured on a printed bingo card. Our free, printable nature walk bingo game includes four different bingo game boards (download instructions can be found below), each featuring 25 different elements of nature, with both a word and a visual prompt to help children find each item. It’s wonderful for inspiring children to look more closely for interesting, natural features within the outdoor environment.

Items included on the bingo boards include more general, commonly found natural items, such as a rock and grass, more challenging finds like tree sap, a spider web or animal tracks, and weather related prompts, such as a cloud, rainbow or puddle.

How to Play Nature Walk Bingo

Nature Walk Bingo can be played virtually anywhere outdoors – in the backyard, when visiting a local park or playground, taking a walk through a regional or national park, it’s even fun to play on a family picnic.

Before heading off, you will need to print the bingo game boards and add a pencil for each.

You can each complete your own bingo board as individuals, or work together as a family or group to complete a board, searching for the items while you walk through nature and marking off each of the items found.

To make the game simpler, especially for younger children, invite them to mark off a complete row or column rather than completing the entire bingo card.

As with all nature play experiences, we encourage you to allow the time to be relaxed and child-led, pausing whenever your child discovers something they find fascinating. The time spent outdoors together connecting is more important than who wins the game, or even whether the game is completed!