- Betsy Larkin
Backyard Scavenger Hunt: Limerick Edition!
The first week that school was cancelled, my six year-old son, Danny, and I were hanging out in our yard one sunny morning with his two younger siblings. Looking around the yard and trying to think happy thoughts about spring, we decided to write some riddles for his cousins who live in Utah. I figured it would give him something to focus on while we were outside, and as a follow-up activity, he could draw "hint pictures" to describe each item that you might find in a kid's backyard. As a fan of the NPR news quiz Wait Wait... Don't Tell me!, I thought writing a limerick would help him think about rhyming words as well as different ways to describe an object without going right out and saying what it is. So, just like on Wait Wait, you have to guess the last word of the limerick, using the limerick itself to determine what concept or object is being described. So, below I present our four limericks. Try reading each one aloud to your child or family member, and see if you can guess the missing final word for each one. If you can guess it without looking at Danny's hint picture, great job! If you can not, scroll down to the hint picture to see if you can surmise the object, and therefore, the missing word. Answers will be at the very bottom so as to not give anything away. This is a great kindergarten or early elementary activity––and you can do it with so many themes––nature, camping, sports, animals, food, toys. The options are endless!
Spoilers ahead! Here are your hint pictures!
Hint picture for Limerick #1:
Hint picture for Limerick #2:
Hint picture for Limerick #3:
Hint picture for Limerick #4:
