Egg Box of Nature’s Treasures

One eggbox per child. Paints, paint trays and brushes. Small board or flat surface to work on. Possible provided treasures.  Selection of sea shells, smooth pebbles, crystals, acorns, conkers. Trowels to dig for a special stone.

1. Make the Eggbox Treasure Chest. Provide each child with an eggbox, ideally stripped of labels. Paint the outside of the egg box in a range of colours.
2. Paint the inside, including the egg bowls. Paint each bowl with a different colour. Colours will help reference the different themes. For example, blue for the sea, green for the woods and forests, grey for rocks.
3. Display your treasures in the egg box. Treasures must be no bigger than an egg. Below are some suggestions.

The sea. Add a tiny amount of sand. Choose tiny shells and bits of seaweed. Talk about textures and smells and beach memories. Seaweed is evocative of shoreline scents.

Woodland. Go on a walk to find your woodland treasure – brown, red, yellow finds – tiny leaves of different colours, or perhaps a special piece of bark. Arrange in an egg bowl.

Rocks and stones. In a suitable area, dig with your trowel to find a special stone, perhaps a piece of coal or quartz.

Meadows, grass, sheep and cows.  Short grass inserted into clay to look like a bed of grass. Decorate with a curl of natural wool.

The Fruits of the Earth. Look for tiny seeds, dried crab apples, bay and olives, tiny conkers. Press into a bed of clay with a bed of tiny pieces of cedar.

Creatures. Collect tiny feathers, mollusc shells, sheep’s wool, tiny bones.