Scavenger Hunt Ideas: Florence

Now that she’s a little older, how about a theme such as shapes, I.e. circles, hexagons, arch, etc. where she could be creative and find some architecture or even gelato cones that could apply? You could have multiple pages for the same shape to see how many different types of arches, for instance, that she noticed.

Why not make the theme "discovery," a mix of things she might enjoy discovering and things you want her to discover. They might include things as diverse as the carousel, one or more of the David statues, a group of young school children on an outing, a gelato shop, the Ponte Vecchio, a restaurant you plan to go to, the Apple store, etc. etc. etc.

How about statues? David in the Accademia; the hulking guy out front of the Palazzo Vecchio (not the David copy, the other one - Hercules?); one of the Michaelangelos inside the Palazzo Vecchio; the David (or other) in the Bargello; Rape of the Sabine Women (or Perseus with the head of Medusa, perhaps) in the loggia near P. Vecchio; the bronze boar at the leather market; the della Robbia medallions up on the facade of the Ospedale degli Innocenti; the Michaelangelo Dusk/Dawn in the Medici chapel; the big bust of some guy in the middle of the Ponte Vecchio; the fabulous wooden Donatello Mary Magdalene (or M's Pieta) in the Museo dell'Opera; even the huge sundial out front of the Galileo museum; these are just off the top of my head; surely there are others, too!

I was working on an idea that is a spin-off of the previous poster. Depending on her interests, you could do a mythological scavenger hunt based on the various carvings and sculptures which can be found in many places in Florence. I was thinking about Rick Riordan and his Percy Jackson series and how he based the books on stories he told to his interested 2nd grade son. Read some Greek and Roman myths before you go. Give her a place to do her own sketches in the scavenger hunt booklet you prepare for her.

I think I have the perfect thing. It's unique to Florence, too.

Clet Abraham's funny alterings of street signs would be GREAT --- they are everywhere in Florence and then you could visit his shop and maybe buy postcards, magnets, or whatever. Google on him and see what I mean. We love spotting them and we are grown-ups.

There are other graffiti artists in Florence, but I don't know their names. One paints a little guy with a red balloon, another paints famous people and paintings with swimming goggles on. Maybe just google on Florence Street Art.

As my grandson would say, "Tah DAH!"

Clet Abraham's funny alterings of street signs would be GREAT --- they
are everywhere in Florence

Nancyscherer8- PERFECT! We discovered these wonderfully amusng signs on our first night in Florence, and actively looked for them wherever we went for the rest of our stay. They are some of our favorite memories, captured for posterity. Wish I'd known more about them at the time, and that there was a shop we could have visited.

Located among the aging Tuscan stones of Florence’s historic Palazzo Vecchio, the simple caricature known as the L’importuno di Michelangelo, or Michelangelo’s Graffiti is either proof of the artist’s insatiable need to create or simply a scrawl created out of boredom.

It's only 1 idea but it's in public space and free!

From Atlas Obscurra

think it work well with the street sign search!

What a great mom you are!
I love this idea. I make my own list (scavenger hunt) of things I want to see,often themed for my trips.
Some are worthy like Michelangelo's 3 pieta's (one in Milan, one in Florence, and one in Rome).
Some are fun like cats (Crazy Cat Cafe in Milan, Torre Argentina in Rome....etc)
Have a great trip!

When I was a child, my father proposed a similar search, but of course it is much easier if you can read Italian. In Florence there are a lot of marble plaques placed by OTTO DI BALIA, the eight magistrates that for many centuries were responsible of keeping public order. One of them, for example, is on the right side of the Ognissanti church.

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_di_Guardia_e_Balia#/media/File:Targa_signori_otto_contro_il_meretricio,_ognissanti.JPG

The plaques are notices that it is forbidden to play ball games, making noises and exercising prostitution within short distances of churches and monasteries. But for example, there is a plaque near Palazzo Strozzi forbidding to sell watermelons.

Every time I'm in Florence, I look for the Clet street signs. Another fun street artist to look for is Blub. Easily recognized since all his people are wearing goggles! Something else that could be fun to "scavenger hunt" are the little wine doors in the walls of buildings. They look like small elf doors...previously used to purchase wine from vendors inside the building. Mostly wooden, arch shaped and always exciting to find one! have a great time, Florence is magical!

This is awesome! I am going to try to find some images of the signs as well as their locations to hone in on the ones that I think we will reasonably be walking by. This is so cool!

I think another one would be of statues in public squares or along streets.

How fun! I had no idea these signs existed but they will make a great adventure for our daughter!

Thank you folks!

You could look for Florentine symbols - like the Medici. Learn why the story of David is historically politically important to Florence. Tombs of famous Florentines like Galileo, Michealangelo, Donatello, Medici family, etc.. (The author of Pinocchio at San Miniato)
Go to the famous food market central and look for a specific food item/treat.
When my daughter was small - we would find statues and try to guess what they were "saying." We tried to come up with silly things - nothing serious.
There is a "small" statue in Santa Croce that our Staue of Liberty is based on - it's quite obvious when you see it.