Scavenger hunts are great exploring activities. These can be educationally focused by hiding artifacts directly connected to lesson content around the playground or school. Divide students into groups and give them lists of items to collect or offer clues to identify the artifacts. Scavenger hunts can be connected to lessons ranging from archaeology and paleontology to U.S. history and geography.
Explorers must connect with their surroundings. A great way to combine earth science with exploring is to plan nature walks that allow kids to touch and feel the trees and plants around them. Through nature walks, children can begin to identify plants that are poisonous or cause rashes versus those that are good. Nature walks can include other explorer activities, such as building habitats out of sticks, trees, mud and leaves.
An insect crawl encourages third grade explorers to learn entomology, the study of insects. This may be considered another type of nature walk, but instead of focusing on plants, the class is looking at insects. With parental supervision, explorers can look under rocks, move rotting wood and dig around to explore a whole new world. Take some of the specimens back to the classroom and start a terrarium if space allows.
Trail blazers themselves were explorers. They sought out and built routes through dense forest and rocky mountains, some of which became today's modern highways. Third grade explorers would love an opportunity to build their own trail, and with a little planning and coordination their imagination could be brought to reality. A local open space preserve organization or county park may be willing to sponsor an activity that allows third grade explorers to trail-blaze the next bike or walking path. While the explorers would not be swinging axes or operating heavy machinery, they could be an integral part of marking trees and clearing out weeds and leaves, making their adventure path come to life.