The ocean is my happy place. There’s something so calming, so relaxing, about the tide, sand, even the sound of seagulls calling to each other. So it should come as no surprise that I love aquariums, and my kids do, too. When we recently visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium, I surprised them with a fun family activity: an aquarium scavenger hunt!

My girls were already excited to visit the aquarium, but this aquarium scavenger hunt pushed their enthusiasm over the top. They literally ran through the front doors of the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, OR: They couldn’t wait to find the sea creatures on their aquarium scavenger hunt!

You’ll see this free aquarium scavenger hunt printable is good for readers and pre-readers alike. Even my 3-year-old could independently search for creatures that matched the descriptions on her worksheet.

If you’re heading to an aquarium on an upcoming family vacation, you’ll definitely want to download this free aquarium scavenger hunt printable. You can print one for each child or do the hunt together as a family activity.

Enjoy, and say hi to the fish for me!

A fun aquarium scavenger hunt for kids

The thing you’ll notice first when you print this aquarium scavenger hunt is that I didn’t make kids search for certain kinds of sea life. You won’t see a box hunting for an octopus or leopard shark.

Instead, each box is filled with a characteristic of a sea creature, like shiny, red, funny or pinchers. So for the square of many legs, your kids might cross it off when they see an octopus or crab or sea star.

This open-ended kid-friendly activity allows kids more flexibility and creativity as they explore the aquarium. That way, too, they’ll have a better chance of completing the aquarium scavenger hunt, even if you don’t find a certain animal or have to leave before you see all the exhibits. (If your kid has a meltdown in front of the sea lion tank, know you’re not alone. We have so been there.)

How to use this aquarium scavenger hunt

The aquarium scavenger hunt is pretty straightforward: Simply download and print the documents in color. Each PDF has two pages, so you can have your kids complete different ones (or even do both on the same trip!).

Then give your kids a pen, pencil or even self-inking stamp to mark off the scavenger hunt as you explore. Using your dad’s back as a hard surface to write on is optional. 😉

We recently became members at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, so we’ll be going back again soon to see our fave animals—and of course complete another aquarium scavenger hunt.

Have you or your kids ever done a scavenger hunt on a family vacation?