Treasure can be found at your doorstep through nature’s bounty. You can collect interesting stones, shells, feathers and leaves. As seasons change and you visit new places, even more items can be discovered and treasured. Go on adventure walks to see what you can find!
But where can you keep all your valuable foraged items? This nature treasure chest can be made from simple items that you might already have around the house. All you need to get started is an old shoe box. This will help you store your collection in one place, and make sure nothing gets lost!
Tip: to decorate your nature treasure chest try to re-use materials such as shiny sweet wrappers, or even scraps of wrapping paper cut into fun shapes.
Remember: do not remove living plants or creatures!
What you will need:
- A shoebox with a lid
- Paint and paint brushes
- Felt tips or marker pens
- Decorations – such as silver foil, old sweet wrappers, old beads
- Sticky tape
- PVA glue
- Scissors
- Cardboard from old cereal packets
- An adult – to help with the fiddly bits!
How to make your nature treasure chest:
- Paint your shoebox and lid inside and out, and leave this to dry.
- Make some dividers out of your old cereal packet.
- Make one strip that is the height and length of the shoebox, to divide it in two.
- Then make three more strips that are the height and width of the shoebox, to divide the shoebox into smaller sections.
- For illustrations to help, check out the the resource below!
- Fold the long strip in half, and then half again. Open out and cut half way up each fold.
- Fold the short strips in half . Open out and cut halfway up each fold.
- Paint all four strips, then slot the three short strips into the cut folds of the long strip.
- Place the dividers inside your treasure chest. Then put a wide strip of tape along the back of the lid to make a hinge, attaching it to the box if it is not already.
- Stick your decorations onto the treasure chest. You could even label the sections or paint on your name!
- Go on an adventure walk to find some natural treasures – think of themes such as items which begin with S or different objects which are soft, prickly, rough, smooth, red, or smelly! You could even start foraging while you wait for the paint to dry.
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