These fall scavenger hunt ideas are 142 things only autumn puts in front of you: a leaf that is red all over, a maple seed that spins, a squirrel's nest showing in a bare tree. Seven chips sort them by leaf color, leaf shape, seeds, fungi, animals, signs of the season and the farm stand.
A leaf hunt you can print
For a leaf scavenger hunt printable, press the Leaf colors chip (23 finds) or Leaf shapes (23), choose 15 and press New finds. Lock what your street can supply, Swap the rest, then Print the list in two columns. Seeds, nuts and cones holds 22 finds, Fungi and forest floor 19, Birds and animals 18, Signs of the season 24, Orchard and farm stand 16.
What the notes teach
Under each find sits a judging rule or a line of natural history. An oak leaf with rounded lobes belongs to the white oak group, and bristle tips mean red oak. A woolly bear's rusty band does not forecast winter. Of the 142 finds, 41 are easy, 77 medium and 24 hard, such as a star-shaped sweetgum leaf, so expect to swap a few for small children.
Tips
Collect only what has already fallen. Berries, fungi and nests get a photo, never a hand.
Go early for frost, dew on webs and your own breath in the air. All three are gone by mid-morning.
A red vine on a trunk stays untouched: poison ivy climbs trees and turns red, orange or yellow in fall.
Questions and answers
Why do leaves change color in the fall?
Chlorophyll keeps a leaf green and masks every other pigment. Late in summer the tree stops replacing it, and the yellow and orange that were there all year show through. Red and purple are made fresh, from sugars, and more of them in bright light. Bright, cool days and chilly nights above freezing give the strongest color.
Does this hunt work in a city?
Yes. Street trees, a park and one front yard cover most of the list. Leaf colors, Leaf shapes and Signs of the season need nothing wilder than a sidewalk. Use Swap on the Orchard and farm stand finds unless a farm visit is planned, and look up: squirrel nests show in bare street trees too.
What ages is a fall scavenger hunt for?
Anyone who can walk and point. For small children deal 5, swap until the list is all easy finds, such as a leaf with a saw-tooth edge, and bring a bag for fallen leaves. Older children and adults can take 15 or 20 and photograph each one. An adult stays with young hunters, and nobody tastes anything.
Halloween Party Games for Teens and Adults61 Halloween games for teens and adults: costume contests, lights-out hiding games, mysteries, relays and quiz sheets. No apples, no alcohol.
A brown leaf that still bends without crackingFreshly fallen. Last week's leaves snap.
A conifer dropping all of its needlesLarches, such as the tamarack, are among the few conifers that go bare for winter.
A fallen leaf that is still completely greenOn the ground, not on the tree. Wind takes some before they turn.
A fan-shaped ginkgo leafNo other seed plant has a fan-shaped leaf. It turns saffron yellow in fall.
A leaf rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green and brownAll five from the ground, laid side by side. Purple earns bragging rights.
A leaf that is green along the veins and yellow everywhere elseHold it up to the light to check.
A leaf that is one color on top and another underneathFlip over every leaf you pick up. Many are paler below.
A leaf that is orange all overOrange is beta-carotene. Like the yellow, it shows once the green fades.
A leaf that is red all overRed is made fresh in fall, from sugars in the leaf on bright days. It was not there in summer.
A leaf that is yellow all overThe yellow was in the leaf all year, hidden under the green.
A leaf the exact color of something you are wearingHold it against the sleeve or the shoe to prove the match.
A leaf with exactly two colors on itHold it flat and name both colors.
A leaf with spots or frecklesDots, blotches and tar-black spots all count.
A leaf with three or more colors on itGreen, yellow and red on one leaf is the classic.
A maple with more than one color on the same treeMaples show up on both lists: the yellow and orange trees and the red ones.
A purple or wine-dark leafPurple comes from the same late-made pigment as red. Sweetgum and dogwood are good trees to check.
A tree that is already bareEarly in the season this is the hard one. Late in the season it is a gift.
A tree that is one color at the top and another at the bottomStep back far enough to see the whole tree.
A tree that is still green beside one that has turnedDifferent kinds of tree change on different schedules.
A vine that has turned red on a fence or a trunkLook, do not touch. Poison ivy climbs trees and turns red, orange or yellow in fall.
A yellow carpet of leaves under a single treeGinkgo leaves can all fall within one to fifteen days, so check under one.
The brightest tree you can see from where you standThe best color follows bright, cool days and chilly nights that stay above freezing.
Five fallen leaves laid in a row from greenest to brownestUse leaves already on the ground and leave the row for the next walker.
Leaf shapes 21
A heart-shaped leafThe notch is where the stalk joins.
A leaf curled into a tubeLook inside before you pick it up. Something may be living there.
A leaf longer than it is wide, and one wider than it is longWillow-thin and maple-wide make an easy pair.
A leaf made of many small leaflets on one stalkCount the leaflets. Botanists call the whole stalk one compound leaf.
A leaf skeleton with only the veins leftCheck damp, shady spots where last year's leaves still lie.
A leaf whose two halves do not match at the stalkFold it along the middle vein. One side starts lower than the other.
A leaf with a hole you can look throughHold it up and look at a teammate through it.
A leaf with a perfectly smooth edgeNo teeth and no lobes, all the way around.
A leaf with a saw-tooth edgeRun a finger gently along the edge to feel the teeth.
A leaf with a stalk longer than your fingerMeasure from the base of the blade to the end of the stalk.
A leaf with veins you can feel with your eyes shutTurn it over. The underside has the ridges.
A maple leaf with lobes spread like fingersCount the main points. Maples grow their leaves in opposite pairs along the twig.
A mitten-shaped leafSassafras grows three shapes, sometimes on one branch: an oval, a two-lobed leaf and a three-lobed one.
A needle, a scale and a broad leafThree styles of leaf: a pine-style needle, a flat cedar-style scale and an ordinary flat leaf.
A star-shaped sweetgum leafUsually five sharp points, glossy, and set singly along the twig rather than in pairs.
An oak leaf with pointed, bristle-tipped lobesA tiny bristle on each point is the mark of the red oak group.
An oak leaf with rounded lobesRounded tips with no bristles point to the white oak group.
The biggest fallen leaf on the whole walkMeasure it against a forearm. The record stands until someone beats it.
The smallest fallen leaf that has changed colorSmaller than a thumbnail is a strong entry.
Two leaves from the same tree that are different shapesBoth have to come from under the same tree.
Two leaves growing opposite each other on a twigMany trees stagger their leaves along the twig. Maples pair them.
Seeds, nuts and cones 22
A cone still green and sealed shutMost pine cones take 18 to 24 months to ripen, so one tree can carry young and old cones at once.
A cone with its scales wide openCones open when dry and close when wet, so the seeds leave in dry, windy weather.
A fruit or a berry that a bird has peckedLook for beak-sized bites.
A glossy brown buckeye or horse chestnutGlossy nut-brown with a pale scar. Look, do not taste: they cause sickness when eaten.
A long bean-like pod hanging from a treeLong and flat or long and thin. Leave it hanging.
A milkweed pod splitting openEach seed rides the wind on a tuft of white silk called a coma.
A nut still inside its green or black huskA thick husk around a hard shell. Leave it where it is for the squirrels.
A place where an animal has left a pile of shells or husksStumps and flat rocks make good dinner tables.
A seed ball dangling on a long thin stalkSycamore balls fall apart. Sweetgum balls stay whole after the seeds have gone.
A seed floating past on its own parachuteFollow it with your eyes until it lands.
A seed head gone to fluffThistle, goldenrod or cattail. Fluff is how these seeds travel.
A seed pod that rattlesShake it gently where it hangs, without picking it.
A spiky sweetgum ballEach ball is 40 to 60 seed capsules joined together, and it can hang on the tree through winter.
A winged maple seed: drop it and watch it spinThe heavy seed sits at one end of the wing, so it spins like a rotor as it falls.
Acorns from two different trees: compare the capsOaks number some 500 species. Compare how deep and how rough each cap is.
An acorn cap with no acorn in itThe cap has a name of its own: the cupule.
An acorn that has started to sproutLook for a pale root poking from the pointed end.
An acorn with a small round hole in itWeevil and moth grubs grow inside acorns. The hole shows one has been here.
Red berries on a bare branchFood for birds, not for people. Photograph it and move on.
Small apples or rose hips still hanging after the leaves have goneCrabapples and rose hips both count.
Three different kinds of seed within one step of each otherWings, nuts, pods, fluff and berries are all seeds on the move.
Two maple seeds still joined as a pairMaples usually bear their winged seeds in pairs.
Fungi and forest floor 18
A drift of leaves deep enough to hide your shoesShuffle in, then shuffle out.
A fallen branch with its leaves still attachedWind brings these down before the leaves can let go.
A gutter, a drain or a stream dammed by leavesLook where the water backs up.
A leaf floating in a puddleA leaf frozen into a puddle counts double for bragging.
A log wearing both fungus and mossBoth on the same log.
A mushroom growing from a fallen cone, twig or leafGet low. These are often smaller than a fingernail.
A mushroom with a cap and a stemLook and photograph. Nobody touches or tastes a wild mushroom.
A path you cannot see because leaves cover itFind where it goes by the gap in the trees.
A puffballA ripe one bursts on impact and lets out a cloud of dust-like spores. Look for one that has already opened.
A ring or a line of mushrooms in grassLawns and playing fields after rain.
A stump with leaves collected in its hollowA natural bowl.
A tree's fallen leaves lying in a circle around its trunkBest on a still morning, before the wind spreads them.
The brown print a wet leaf left on a sidewalkA ghost of the leaf, shape and all.
Last year's leaves turning to soil under this year'sLift the top layer, look, and lay it back like a blanket.
Moss that is brighter green than everything around itMoss stands out once the leaves above it thin.
Mushrooms in three different colorsWhite, brown and orange is a common set. Eyes only.
Shelf fungi stacked like steps up a trunkThree or more shelves on one tree or log.
Something alive under the leaf litterLift gently, look, and cover it again.
Birds and animals 18
A ball of leaves high in a bare treeA drey, the nest of a tree squirrel: a hollow ball a foot or more across, easy to spot after leaf fall.
A bird eating berries off a branchWatch from a distance so it keeps eating.
A chipmunk with full cheeksCheek pouches carry food to one big larder in the burrow.
A deer track in mudTwo pointed toes side by side.
A flock of small birds that lifts off all at onceA dozen birds or more.
A fuzzy caterpillar crossing a path or a sidewalkThe woolly bear winters as a caterpillar, frozen nearly solid, and thaws in spring.
A hawk circling on a sunny afternoonBroad wings, slow circles, hardly a flap.
A jay, seen or heardJays bury acorns for later. Acorns are too heavy for wind, so oaks rely on jays and squirrels to spread them.
A monarch butterflyIn September and October, monarchs east of the Rockies fly up to 3,000 miles to the mountains of central Mexico.
A squirrel digging a hole or patting one downIt is burying or fetching. The acorns it never comes back for can grow into oaks.
A squirrel with something in its mouthSquirrels hide acorns one at a time in many places and hold a mental map of where.
A thread of spider silk drifting through the airGossamer. Small spiders let out fine silk and ride the wind on it.
A woolly bear caterpillarBlack at both ends, rusty brown between. Folklore says the band forecasts winter, but no evidence supports it.
An insect sunning itself on a warm wall or a window frameSouth-facing walls on a cool, bright day.
An old bird's nest you can see now that the leaves are downLook, leave it in place.
Crows in a harvested fieldThree or more.
Geese flying in a VThe V is thought to save energy: each bird gets lift from the air off the wings ahead.
The last bee or butterfly on the last flowersCheck goldenrod, which blooms into early fall.
Signs of the season 24
A bare twig with next year's buds already on itLook at the very tip of the twig.
A falling leaf caught before it touches the groundHarder than it sounds. No shaking branches.
A leaf or a seed caught in a spider webLeave the web as you found it.
A rake, a leaf blower or a tarp full of leavesAt work or leaning on a wall.
A raked leaf pile taller than your kneesAsk whoever raked it before anybody jumps in.
A spider web strung with dew or frostFences, hedges and railings first thing in the morning.
A swirl of leaves turning in a circleCorners of buildings and ends of alleys make them.
A trail of dark footprints across dewy grassYours count.
A tree holding its brown leaves while its neighbors are bareOaks, beeches and hornbeams often keep dead leaves all winter, young trees most of all. The word is marcescence.
The crunch of dry leaves under your shoesDry day required.
Frost on grass, a windshield or a roofLook in the shade, where the sun has not reached yet.
Goldenrod in bloomIt gets blamed for hay fever, but its pollen is too heavy and sticky to blow far. Ragweed is the wind-borne one.
The last flower still blooming on the street or the trailYour team decides which one is the last.
Leaves racing each other along the groundPick one and cheer for it.
The mark on a twig where a leaf let goThe tree seals the spot with a layer of cork before the leaf drops.
Morning mist over a field, a pond or a riverGo early. It burns off once the sun is on it.
One leaf watched all the way from the branch to the groundNotice whether it spins, glides or rocks like a boat.
Paper leaf bags lined up at a curbThree or more.
The smell of wet leavesStrongest the morning after rain.
The smell of wood smokeFind which chimney it comes from.
Someone wearing a scarf, gloves or a wool hatTeammates count.
Streetlights or porch lights on before dinnerAstronomical autumn begins at the September equinox, which can fall from September 21 to 24.
Your own breath showing in the airEarly morning is the time to try.
Your shadow at lunchtime, measured in footstepsWrite the number down and measure again next week.
Orchard and farm stand 16
A corn stalk taller than the tallest person with youStand beside it to prove it.
A farm stand or a roadside table with fall produceSeen from the path or the car.
A field cut down to stubbleShort dry stalks in rows, all that is left after harvest.
A gourd with warts or a crooked neckThe stranger the better.
A hay or straw baleSquare or round.
A potted chrysanthemum on a stepName its color.
A pumpkin or squash that is not orangeWhite, green, blue-gray and striped all count.
A pumpkin still attached to its vineFollow the vine back to see how far it runs.
A scarecrow in a garden or a fieldOn duty among the plants, not sitting on a porch.
A sunflower head bowed down with seedsLook for the gaps where birds have been at it.
A tractor pulling a wagonWith or without riders.
A wagon, a crate or a wheelbarrow full of apples or squashSpotting it is enough. Nobody has to buy anything.
A windfall apple on the groundUnder the tree, where it fell. Leave it there.
An apple still on the treeApples ripen in late summer or autumn. Pick only where picking is what you came for.
An ear of dried corn with kernels in more than one colorCount the colors.
The seed chambers inside an apple cut across the middleAn adult does the cutting. There are usually five chambers, each with one or two seeds.
How this list was compiled: Written for this site by its editors in September 2026: 142 original autumn finds in seven groups (leaf colors, leaf shapes, seeds and nuts and cones, fungi and the forest floor, birds and animals, signs of the season, orchard and farm stand). Every find follows the site's rules: look and photograph, collect only leaves and seeds that have already fallen, pick and taste nothing, stay on the path, and leave nests, fungi and animals alone. Difficulty levels are the editors' judgment. The natural history in the notes was checked against Wikipedia on 2026-09-19, and each item that states a fact lists its article in x.src: Autumn_leaf_color (yellow and orange pigments present all year, red and purple made in late summer and fall, brightest after bright cool days and chilly nights above freezing, species lists), Samara_(fruit), Acorn (cupule, weevil and moth larvae, scatter-hoarding by jays and squirrels), Oak (some 500 species; bristle-tipped red oak lobes, rounded white oak lobes), Conifer_cone (open when dry, closed when wet; 18 to 24 months to mature in most pines), Marcescence, Ginkgo_biloba (fan-shaped leaf, saffron yellow, leaf fall within one to fifteen days), Pyrrharctia_isabella (woolly bear; no evidence for the winter forecast; overwinters frozen), Asclepias (coma), Monarch_butterfly_migration (September and October, up to 3,000 miles), V_formation, Puffball, Liquidambar_styraciflua (sweetgum leaf and fruit, maple leaves in opposite pairs, sycamore balls fall apart), Sassafras_albidum (three leaf shapes), Abscission (cork layer), Larch (deciduous conifer, tamarack), Solidago (goldenrod blooms late summer and early fall; ragweed is the wind-pollinated allergen), Drey, Chipmunk (cheek pouches, larder), Apple (usually five carpels, one or two seeds each; matures late summer or autumn), Ballooning_(spider) (gossamer), Toxicodendron_radicans (poison ivy climbs and turns red, orange or yellow in fall), Aesculus_hippocastanum (horse chestnut seeds cause sickness when eaten), September_equinox (can fall from September 21 to 24). All at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ followed by the article name. Licence: own work