A five-digit produce sticker that starts with 9The 9 in front marks organic produce, so look in the organic section.
Yogurt in the smallest cup and in the biggest tubPoint to both. Which one would last your family longer?
A sticker with a four-digit number on a piece of fruitThe number tells the register what the fruit is. Ordinary produce gets four digits starting with 3 or 4.
The store's opening hours, from the sign on the doorRead them on the way in or on the way out.
The thermometer in a freezer caseFrozen food keeps at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, which is minus 18 Celsius. What does this one read?
A carton of a dozen eggsA dozen is 12. Count the bumps on the lid: two rows of six.
Something from the sea that sits on a shelfCanned tuna, sardines, dried seaweed or sea salt.
An egg carton that holds more than 12Look for 18 printed on the lid, or a big flat tray.
A weight given in both ounces and gramsLook near the bottom of the front of the pack.
A loaf with a pattern cut into its crustThe baker slices the dough before it goes in the oven, and the cuts open up as the loaf bakes.
Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt Printable: how it works
This grocery store scavenger hunt printable holds 80 finds for a child shopping with an adult: 16 in produce, 14 on the pantry aisles, 14 on labels, plus bakery, dairy, freezer and whole-store finds. Ten are dealt when the page opens. Every find is look and point, so nothing leaves a shelf. Build the list at home, then print.
Deal the list before you leave home
Press New finds, Lock the lines that suit your child and press again to replace the rest. Swap changes a single line, such as the deli counter number in a store with no deli. The chips sort the list by department, so a quick trip for milk and bread can run on Dairy and eggs alone. Print puts the list on paper, which leaves your phone free for the shopping list.
Readers, pre-readers and one rule
No reading needed holds 40 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'. By level, 38 finds are easy, 32 medium and 10 hard. The one rule: eyes and pointing fingers only, beside the cart.
Tips
Deal 5 for a child under six and 10 for an older one, so the list is finished before the checkout line.
The note under each find is yours to read aloud: the holes in cheese are called eyes.
With two children and one cart, give each a different chip, such as Produce and Freezer aisle, so they never compete for one find.
Questions and answers
What ages does this grocery store hunt suit?
About four to ten. For a child who cannot read yet, press No reading needed: all 40 finds work by color, shape and counting. The hard finds suit ages eight and up, who can track down a unit price or a produce sticker that starts with 9. Every find assumes an adult within arm's reach.
Will my child be handling the food?
No. Every find is written as look and point, and 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, and nothing goes in the cart for the game.
Does the list name any stores or brands?
None. Foods are generic, such as butter in sticks or milk that did not come from a cow, so one sheet works in any supermarket. A small store may have no deli counter and no misters over the lettuce. Swap those lines before you print.
Letter Scavenger Hunt Printable156 letter finds from A to Z, two each for indoors, outdoors and the car, for ages three to six.
Mall Scavenger Hunt Ideas142 scored tasks for a shopping mall: corridor finds, price-tag finds, funny team photos, food court finds and riddles. Nothing is bought.
Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt Ideas124 things to see, hear or smell from the sidewalk, from a blue front door to a house number that adds up to ten.
Office Scavenger Hunt Ideas138 scored tasks for a team day: desk finds, safe 'find a colleague who' questions, building facts, photos, riddles and challenges.
Outdoor Scavenger Hunt Ideas158 nature finds sorted by woods, park, garden, pond and campsite, each with a note on what you are looking at.
A flower you can eatBroccoli 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 beforeAsk your adult to read the sign. Say the name three times so it sticks.
A fruit that starts with PPear, peach, plum, pineapple, papaya or pomegranate. Point to it and say its name.
A fruit that wears its seeds on the outsideA strawberry. Each speck on the skin has one seed inside it. Look, do not squeeze.
A leaf you can eatLettuce, spinach, cabbage, kale, and herbs such as basil and parsley.
A mushroomNot a plant at all: a mushroom is a fungus. Count how many kinds the store sells.
A purple vegetableEggplant, red cabbage, purple onions, and sometimes purple carrots, potatoes or cauliflower.
A vegetable that is really a fruitTo a botanist, anything with seeds inside is a fruit: tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, squash and eggplant.
The biggest single fruit or vegetable in the departmentWatermelons, pumpkins and big cabbages are the ones to beat. Point, do not lift.
The smallest fruit you can findA blueberry, a currant or a single grape. Judge with your eyes, not your fingers.
Something from another continentThe 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 onCarrots with green tops, beets, celery, or tomatoes still on the vine.
Something that grew undergroundCarrots, potatoes, beets, onions and radishes. Look for a little soil still on them.
Something that grows on a treeApples, oranges, lemons, pears, cherries and avocados.
Something that grows on a vineGrapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and peas all count.
Three different colors of the same fruit or vegetableBell peppers, apples, grapes, onions and potatoes all come in three.
Bakery and deli 8
The 'now serving' number at the deli counterRead the number aloud. Leave the paper tickets for the people who are ordering.
A bread shaped like a ring or a knotBagels are the rings and soft pretzels are the knots.
A bread that is flatTortillas, pita, naan and flatbread wraps.
A cake with writing on itRead the words aloud, or ask your adult to. Look through the glass, not over it.
A cheese with holes in itCheesemakers call the holes eyes. Bubbles of gas made them while the cheese ripened.
A loaf of bread with seeds on topSesame, poppy or sunflower. Looking through the bag is close enough.
A loaf with a pattern cut into its crustThe baker slices the dough before it goes in the oven, and the cuts open up as the loaf bakes.
Something in the deli case sold by the poundThe little sign gives a price with 'lb' after it. That means one pound.
Dairy and eggs 10
A carton of a dozen eggsA dozen is 12. Count the bumps on the lid: two rows of six.
A cheese that is orange and a cheese that is whiteTwo fingers, two cheeses.
An egg carton that holds more than 12Look for 18 printed on the lid, or a big flat tray.
Butter in sticksIn 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 stickShredded in a bag counts as a fourth if you spot it.
Eggs that are not whiteShell color depends on the breed of hen. It changes nothing about the taste.
Four different colors of milk capEach 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 cowOat, almond, soy, coconut or goat. The front of the carton says which.
The thermometer inside a refrigerated caseFood 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 tubPoint to both. Which one would last your family longer?
Pantry aisles 14
A can with a picture of a vegetable on itCorn, peas, beans or tomatoes. Point to the picture and name it.
A cereal box with no cartoon character on itHarder than it sounds. Try the top shelf and the bottom one.
A dried fruit that looks nothing like it did freshRaisins were grapes and prunes were plums. Find the fresh one in produce too.
A red spice, a yellow spice and a green onePaprika, turmeric and dried parsley would do it. The jars are small, so look closely.
Beans in three different colorsBlack, white, red, pink or speckled. Dried in bags or pictured on cans.
The biggest bag of rice on the shelfRead the weight printed on the front. Point, do not lift.
Flour and sugar on the same aisleThat is the baking aisle. Find the overhead sign that names it.
Noodles that are not made from wheatRice noodles, or pasta made from corn, lentils or chickpeas. The front of the pack says.
Oil made from a fruitOlive, avocado or coconut. The label names the fruit.
Pasta in three different shapesTubes, bows, shells, spirals, wheels. Say what each shape looks like to you.
The same food in a can, a jar and a pouchTomato sauce, tuna, olives or fruit. All three must hold the same food.
Something from the sea that sits on a shelfCanned tuna, sardines, dried seaweed or sea salt.
Something pickled that is not a cucumberBeets, peppers, onions, okra, or cabbage turned into sauerkraut. Look beside the pickles.
Something sweet made by beesHoney. Extra credit for a jar with a piece of honeycomb inside.
Freezer aisle 8
A frozen breakfast foodWaffles, pancakes, hash browns or breakfast sandwiches.
A frozen food whose name comes from another languagePizza, burrito, gyoza, pierogi, naan, edamame. Say where the word comes from if you know.
A frozen fruit you also saw fresh in produceBerries, mango, peaches or cherries. Spot it through the glass.
A frozen mix with at least three vegetables in itCount the vegetables in the picture on the bag.
Frost on the inside of a freezer doorLook, do not open. The door stays shut so the cold stays in.
Ice sold by the bagIt often has a freezer of its own near the doors or the checkout.
Peas, corn and spinach, all frozen, all on one aisleThree fingers, three bags. You may have to walk the whole row of doors.
The thermometer in a freezer caseFrozen 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 yearCans and dried pasta are the places to look. Milk will not help you.
A barcode: count the digits underneathThe standard grocery barcode in the United States carries 12 digits.
A country's name on a can, a jar or a bottleLook for 'Product of' in small print. Keep a list of every country you find.
A five-digit produce sticker that starts with 9The 9 in front marks organic produce, so look in the organic section.
A food with only one ingredientRead the ingredients list on oats, rice, honey, frozen peas or plain nuts.
A label printed in two languagesRead one word in each language, with help if you need it.
A price that ends in 9That will not take long. Now try to find one that does not.
A shelf tag with a unit priceThe 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 fruitThe 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 gramsLook 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 handHold your hand up beside it without touching the shelf.
The serving size on a Nutrition Facts panelIt sits near the top. Every number below it is for that amount, not for the whole box.
Something that weighs exactly one poundThe label says 16 oz, 1 lb or 454 g. Try butter, pasta and bags of dried beans.
Around the store 10
A cart with a squeaky or wobbly wheelListen as carts roll by. You do not need to push it to know.
A display at the very end of an aisleShops call that spot an endcap. What is on it today?
A scale for weighing fruit and vegetablesHanging from a chain or sitting on a counter. Watch the numbers move when your adult uses it.
The divider bar on the checkout beltIt keeps one family's groceries apart from the next. Set it down behind yours once the belt is loaded.
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 saleOften just inside the entrance. Choose your favorite bunch with your eyes only.
The highest aisle number in the storeThe numbers hang overhead at the end of each aisle. Walk with your adult, never ahead.
The misters that spray the leafy vegetablesThe fine spray keeps the leaves from drying out. Stand back or get a wet sleeve.
Something stacked in a pyramidOranges, apples or cans. Admire it from a step back.
The store's opening hours, from the sign on the doorRead them on the way in or on the way out.