Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt Printable

Q: What ages does this grocery store hunt suit?

About four to ten. No reading needed under More filters keeps 48 finds that work by color, shape and counting. The 10 hard finds suit ages eight and up: a unit price, a produce sticker that starts with 9.

All 92 finds

Produce 16

A flower you can eat Broccoli is picked while its flowers are still tight green buds. An artichoke is a flower bud too.
A fruit or vegetable with a name you have never heard before Ask your adult to read the sign. Say the name three times so it sticks.
A fruit that starts with P Pear, peach, plum, pineapple, papaya or pomegranate. Point to it and say its name.
A fruit that wears its seeds on the outside A strawberry. Each speck on the skin has one seed inside it. Look, do not squeeze.
A leaf you can eat Lettuce, spinach, cabbage, kale, and herbs such as basil and parsley.
A mushroom Not a plant at all: a mushroom is a fungus. Count how many kinds the store sells.
A purple vegetable Eggplant, red cabbage, purple onions, and sometimes purple carrots, potatoes or cauliflower.
A vegetable that is really a fruit To a botanist, anything with seeds inside is a fruit: tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, squash and eggplant.
The biggest single fruit or vegetable in the department Watermelons, pumpkins and big cabbages are the ones to beat. Point, do not lift.

Show all 92 finds (83 more)

Produce, continued

The smallest fruit you can find A blueberry, a currant or a single grape. Judge with your eyes, not your fingers.
Something from another continent The sticker or the sign above the bin names the country. Find it on a map when you get home.
Something sold with its leaves or its stalk still on Carrots with green tops, beets, celery, or tomatoes still on the vine.
Something that grew underground Carrots, potatoes, beets, onions and radishes. Look for a little soil still on them.
Something that grows on a tree Apples, oranges, lemons, pears, cherries and avocados.
Something that grows on a vine Grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and peas all count.
Three different colors of the same fruit or vegetable Bell peppers, apples, grapes, onions and potatoes all come in three.

Bakery and deli 12

The 'now serving' number at the deli counter Read the number aloud. Leave the paper tickets for the people who are ordering.
A bread shaped like a ring or a knot Bagels are the rings and soft pretzels are the knots.
A bread that is flat Tortillas, pita, naan and flatbread wraps.
A cake with writing on it Read the words aloud, or ask your adult to. Look through the glass, not over it.
A cheese with holes in it Cheesemakers call the holes eyes. Bubbles of gas made them while the cheese ripened.
A cookie bigger than your hand Hold your hand up near the glass to measure. The cookie stays where it is.
A cupcake or a donut with sprinkles Name two of the sprinkle colors.
A loaf of bread with seeds on top Sesame, poppy or sunflower. Looking through the bag is close enough.
A loaf with a pattern cut into its crust The baker slices the dough before it goes in the oven, and the cuts open up as the loaf bakes.
A roll shaped like a crescent moon A croissant. Count how many are left on the tray.
A tag that says which day the bread was baked Look on the bakery rack or on the clip that closes the bag, and read it aloud.
Something in the deli case sold by the pound The little sign gives a price with 'lb' after it. That means one pound.

Dairy and eggs 12

A carton of a dozen eggs A dozen is 12. Count the bumps on the lid: two rows of six.
A cheese that is orange and a cheese that is white Two fingers, two cheeses.
A cow pictured on a carton or a tub Milk, butter and yogurt makers love a cow. Count how many you can spot from one place.
An egg carton that holds more than 12 Look for 18 printed on the lid, or a big flat tray.
Butter in sticks In the United States a one-pound box holds four sticks. Find where the box says so.
Cheese in three shapes: a block, a wedge and a stick Shredded in a bag counts as a fourth if you spot it.
The date stamped on a milk jug Compare a jug at the front of the shelf with one at the back. Is the date the same?
Eggs that are not white Shell color depends on the breed of hen. It changes nothing about the taste.
Four different colors of milk cap Each color stands for a kind of milk, such as whole or skim. The code changes from dairy to dairy.
Milk that did not come from a cow Oat, almond, soy, coconut or goat. The front of the carton says which.
The thermometer inside a refrigerated case Food safety advice puts a refrigerator at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below. What does this one read?
Yogurt in the smallest cup and in the biggest tub Point to both. Which one would last your family longer?

Pantry aisles 14

A can with a picture of a vegetable on it Corn, peas, beans or tomatoes. Point to the picture and name it.
A cereal box with no cartoon character on it Harder than it sounds. Try the top shelf and the bottom one.
A dried fruit that looks nothing like it did fresh Raisins were grapes and prunes were plums. Find the fresh one in produce too.
A red spice, a yellow spice and a green one Paprika, turmeric and dried parsley would do it. The jars are small, so look closely.
Beans in three different colors Black, white, red, pink or speckled. Dried in bags or pictured on cans.
The biggest bag of rice on the shelf Read the weight printed on the front. Point, do not lift.
Flour and sugar on the same aisle That is the baking aisle. Find the overhead sign that names it.
Noodles that are not made from wheat Rice noodles, or pasta made from corn, lentils or chickpeas. The front of the pack says.
Oil made from a fruit Olive, avocado or coconut. The label names the fruit.
Pasta in three different shapes Tubes, bows, shells, spirals, wheels. Say what each shape looks like to you.
The same food in a can, a jar and a pouch Tomato sauce, tuna, olives or fruit. All three must hold the same food.
Something from the sea that sits on a shelf Canned tuna, sardines, dried seaweed or sea salt.
Something pickled that is not a cucumber Beets, peppers, onions, okra, or cabbage turned into sauerkraut. Look beside the pickles.
Something sweet made by bees Honey. Extra credit for a jar with a piece of honeycomb inside.

Freezer aisle 12

A freezer door with a number on it Read the number aloud. Then find the door with the next number up.
A frozen breakfast food Waffles, pancakes, hash browns or breakfast sandwiches.
A frozen food whose name comes from another language Pizza, burrito, gyoza, pierogi, naan, edamame. Say where the word comes from if you know.
A frozen fruit you also saw fresh in produce Berries, mango, peaches or cherries. Spot it through the glass.
A frozen mix with at least three vegetables in it Count the vegetables in the picture on the bag.
A frozen pizza with more than three toppings Count the toppings in the picture on the box.
A penguin, a polar bear or a snowman on a package Cold-weather characters like this aisle. Spot one through the glass.
An ice cream the same color as something you are wearing Pink, green, brown or yellow. Go by the picture on the tub, through the closed door.
Frost on the inside of a freezer door Look, do not open. The door stays shut so the cold stays in.
Ice sold by the bag It often has a freezer of its own near the doors or the checkout.
Peas, corn and spinach, all frozen, all on one aisle Three fingers, three bags. You may have to walk the whole row of doors.
The thermometer in a freezer case Frozen food keeps at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, which is minus 18 Celsius. What does this one read?

Read the label 14

A 'best by' date that falls in next year Cans and dried pasta are the places to look. Milk will not help you.
A barcode: count the digits underneath The standard grocery barcode in the United States carries 12 digits.
A country's name on a can, a jar or a bottle Look for 'Product of' in small print. Keep a list of every country you find.
A five-digit produce sticker that starts with 9 The 9 in front marks organic produce, so look in the organic section.
A food with only one ingredient Read the ingredients list on oats, rice, honey, frozen peas or plain nuts.
A label printed in two languages Read one word in each language, with help if you need it.
A price that ends in 9 That will not take long. Now try to find one that does not.
A shelf tag with a unit price The small print on the tag: the price per ounce or per pound. It lets you compare a big box with a small one.
A sticker with a four-digit number on a piece of fruit The number tells the register what the fruit is. Ordinary produce gets four digits starting with 3 or 4.
A weight given in both ounces and grams Look near the bottom of the front of the pack.
An allergy line that starts with the word 'Contains' It sits right after the ingredients list and names things such as milk, eggs, wheat or peanuts.
An ingredients list longer than your hand Hold your hand up beside it without touching the shelf.
The serving size on a Nutrition Facts panel It sits near the top. Every number below it is for that amount, not for the whole box.
Something that weighs exactly one pound The label says 16 oz, 1 lb or 454 g. Try butter, pasta and bags of dried beans.

Around the store 12

A cart with a squeaky or wobbly wheel Listen as carts roll by. You do not need to push it to know.
A display at the very end of an aisle Shops call that spot an endcap. What is on it today?
A scale for weighing fruit and vegetables Hanging from a chain or sitting on a counter. Watch the numbers move when your adult uses it.
An overhead sign that names something on your list Read the signs out as you pass until one matches the shopping list.
The divider bar on the checkout belt It keeps one family's groceries apart from the next. Point to it once your groceries are on the belt.
The express lane sign: how many items does it allow? Read the number, then count your own cart. Would you qualify?
Flowers or plants for sale Often just inside the entrance. Choose your favorite bunch with your eyes only.
The highest aisle number in the store The numbers hang overhead at the end of each aisle. Walk with your adult, never ahead.
The misters that spray the leafy vegetables The fine spray keeps the leaves from drying out. Stand back or get a wet sleeve.
Something stacked in a pyramid Oranges, apples or cans. Admire it from a step back.
The stack of hand baskets Usually near the entrance. Are they all the same color?
The store's opening hours, from the sign on the door Read them on the way in or on the way out.

How this list was compiled: Written for this site in September 2026: 92 original finds for a child shopping with an adult. Every find was screened against the site's rules: look and point without touching, stay beside your adult and the cart, open no freezer door, put nothing in the cart for the game, and approach no shopper or worker. No find sends a child to candy, toys, the pharmacy or age-restricted shelves, and no store or brand is named: foods are generic. Levels (easy, medium, hard) are our judgment. Facts in the notes were checked on 2026-09-18: four-digit produce codes in the 3000 and 4000 series and the 9 prefix for organic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_look-up_code); the 12-digit UPC-A barcode (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Product_Code); refrigerator at or below 40 F and freezer at 0 F (https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/are-you-storing-food-safely); cheese eyes formed by gas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyes_(cheese)); United States butter sold as four sticks to the pound (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter); eggshell color set by breed with no effect on taste (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggs_as_food); country of origin shown on fresh produce at retail (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country-of-origin_labeling); tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, squash and eggplant as botanical fruits, and one seed inside each strawberry achene (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit); broccoli harvested while its flowers are in bud (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broccoli); the artichoke eaten as a flower bud (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artichoke); the 'Contains' allergen statement placed right after the ingredients (https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-food-labeling-and-critical-foods/food-allergies); nutrient amounts referring to the serving size (https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/how-understand-and-use-nutrition-facts-label). Licence: own work

How it works

Every find is look and point, so nothing leaves a shelf. This grocery store scavenger hunt printable holds 92 finds for a child shopping with an adult, sorted by department from produce to the freezer aisle.

Read the full guide

Build the list before you leave home

Press Pick 10 new finds until the lines suit your child and your store. The Whole store menu sorts by department, so a quick trip for milk can run on the 12 finds in Dairy and eggs.

Readers, pre-readers and one rule

Under More filters, No reading needed keeps 48 finds a four-year-old can make by sight: a purple vegetable, eggs that are not white, something stacked in a pyramid. Read the label holds 14 for a confident reader, from the 12 digits under a barcode to the allergy line that starts with 'Contains'. The one rule: eyes and pointing fingers only, beside the cart.

With two children and one cart, give each a department, such as Produce and Freezer aisle, so they never compete.
Read each note aloud as you go: the holes in cheese are called eyes.

Questions and answers

What ages does this grocery store hunt suit?

About four to ten. No reading needed under More filters keeps 48 finds that work by color, shape and counting. The 10 hard finds suit ages eight and up: a unit price, a produce sticker that starts with 9.

Will my child be handling the food?

No. Every find is written as look and point. The notes say so where temptation is strongest: strawberries are judged by eye, watermelons are pointed at and freezer doors stay shut. No find leads to the candy or toy shelves.

Does this work at any grocery store?

Yes. No store or brand is named: foods are generic, such as butter in sticks or milk that did not come from a cow, so one sheet works in any supermarket.