What’s Inside: Free Printable Activity Sheets for Cville Kids
Every Charlottesville parent knows the specific weather forecast that ruins a Saturday: Rain moving in around ten, with no chance of the playground drying out before dinner. Or the January stretch where it’s too cold and gray to be outside, and everyone in the house has watched enough television to feel sick of it.
We made these free printable activities for exactly those days. They’re free for local families. No signup, no email, no catch. Click any sheet below, print it, and you’re done.
Why We Love Free Printable Activities
Printable activity sheets are an easy way to keep kids entertained without screens. They’re perfect for rainy weekends and sick days. They’re also great to keep on hand if you know you’ll be on the go.
Slide a few onto a clipboard and toss it in the car, and you have something for the twenty minutes you’re waiting outside a dance class at Barracks Road. Bring a a few when you know you’ll be waiting for a table at Tip Top on a busy Saturday morning.
Parents have told us they keep a stack in the glove box. That’s about the highest compliment a printable can get.
Who Is Bumble?
Bumble, our bee, has been part of CharlottesvilleFamily since long before he had his own activity sheets. You can spot him on our logo, in our Charlottesville relocation guide, all over the website, and in our print magazine. Over the years our team has drawn up a whole collection of coloring pages, mazes, puzzles, and nature scavenger hunts featuring him.
Bumble means even more to us now that Charlottesville is a Bee City. This means the city has made a formal commitment to expanding pollinator-friendly habitat, cutting back on pesticides, and helping people understand why any of that matters.
That’s why we’ve partnered with the City of Charlottesville’s Office of Sustainability to make Bumble a whole activity sheet about Bee City!
Bumble’s Bee City Activity Page
This multi-page activity sheet is all about pollinators. You’ll find:
- Bee facts that kids repeat at dinner for weeks
- Word search and maze
- Nature walk scavenger hunt
- Kid-friendly craft with instructions
The bee waterer craft takes about four minutes. Best of all, it costs nothing if you already have marbles or pebbles in the house. Spread them across the bottom of a saucer, add water until the tops of the stones still peek out, and set it outside near flowers. The stones give bees a place to land and drink without getting wet. Kids check on it obsessively, which is the whole point.
There’s also a guide to the native flowers that are easiest to grow with little hands, including sunflower, black-eyed Susan, purple coneflower, lanceleaf coreopsis, and wild bergamot.
If you find yourself with some budding environmental enthusiasts, don’t miss our other ideas for gardening with kids, including planting for pollinators, forcing bulbs during winter, and what to plant in zone 7b.
What’s in the Printable Activity Sheet Collection
The coloring pages are the simplest place to start, especially for younger kids who mostly want a crayon and a clear surface. There are several Bumble scenes to choose from. All our printables are sized for standard letter paper so they’ll come out of any home printer without fuss.
The mazes are great for kids in preschool or early elementary school. One sends Bumble hunting for pirate treasure, a hit with the 4–7 year old crowd.
Got an older kid who can finish a maze in ninety seconds? Your 8–10 year olds may enjoy a crossword puzzle or a find the differences sheet. Both of which take real attention, which every parent knows buys you a little more time to yourself!
You’ll also find a:
- Matching game
- Hide and seek page with Bumble tucked into a busy scene
- Cut-and-assemble puzzle that requires scissors and a bit of patience
And then there are the nature scavenger hunts. These are our favorites because they’re meant to leave the house with you.
Scavenger Hunts for Charlottesville Hikes
A scavenger hunt sheet is only as good as the place you take it. Our scavenger hunts were designed by parents who love hiking in Central Virginia. This means they feature things kids will actually find in Charlottesville’s most popular natural areas and hiking spots.
Where can you take them?
Ivy Creek Natural Area is probably our favorite place to do a scavenger hunt with kids. The trails are flat and forgiving and many loops are short enough for little legs. Plus, there’s enough variety in the woods and along the field edges that kids fill in most of the sheet without much prompting.
Other Charlottesville spots with walking trails that we recommend include:
- The Rivanna Trail, especially in Riverview Park
- Darden Towe Park when you want a scavenger hunt and a playground in the same trip
- Crozet Park for families out west
- Sugar Hollow or Carter Mountain when you want a hike with a great view at the end
Looking for more trails to try? Our guide to kid-friendly hikes near Charlottesville sorts trails by age and difficulty. Plus, our playgrounds guide covers where to land when the hike is over.
Click to Download: CharlottesvilleFamily’s Free Activity Printables
We hope you enjoy these free printable coloring pages for kids and activity sheets all highlighting Bumble, our lovable CharlottesvilleFamily bee!
For Teachers and Homeschool Families
These sheets are free to print and use in classrooms, co-ops, church programs, library groups, and scout meetings. Print as many copies as you need. We only ask that you leave the CharlottesvilleFamily mark on the page so other families can find their way back to the rest of the collection.
Teachers across Albemarle and Charlottesville city schools have used the scavenger hunts for outdoor learning days. And homeschool families tell us the puzzles work well as morning warm-ups. We love that the Bee City sheet fits neatly into pollinator and habitat units!
Questions Parents Ask About Our Free Activity Printables
Are these printables really free?
Yes. There’s no signup, no email required, and no account to create. Click the sheet you want and the PDF downloads.
What do I need to print these activities?
A standard home printer and letter-size paper. Black and white is fine for the coloring pages, mazes, and puzzles. The Bee City sheet has color on it, but it still prints legibly in grayscale if your color cartridge has given up.
What ages are these activity sheets for?
Roughly ages two to ten. The coloring pages and simpler mazes work for preschoolers. The crossword, find the differences, and word search sheets suit early elementary through about fourth grade.
Can I use Charlottesville printables in my classroom?
Teachers are welcome to use these activity sheets! Print freely for any classroom, camp, library, or group setting.
Where should we take the scavenger hunt sheets?
The scavenger hunts in this collection are designed for Charlottesville parks and natural areas. Ivy Creek Natural Area, the Rivanna Trail, Darden Towe Park, and Crozet Park are all great places to take them. But anywhere with a mix of woods and open space will do.
Looking for more free activities for Charlottesville families? Our free weekly newsletter, Out and About, lands in your inbox with curated picks so you’re not hunting for plans on a Thursday night. Or, sign up for Bumble’s Birthday Club, which sends your child free bonuses from local businesses in their birthday month without you having to do anything but sign up!
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