Even though we do a Science curriculum my kids and I still like to do nature studies and nature walks. We often find some really neat items on these walks so I have put together a nature box to house them all in.
I love our nature box because it is a joint collaboration of my kids collecting items that want to learn about.
What’s in our nature box?
Different shape and color leaves
Dead bee’s, dragonflies, moth
Real butterfly wings
Real Butterfly Pupa
Alligator Scoots
Magnifying Glasses
Snake Skin
Cotton
Plastic Tweezers
Small Bug Catcher
Bird Feathers
Hatched Turtle Eggs
Many of these items are from our yard like the snake skin, dragonfly and bees I found dead on our front walkway, while others we found on travels like the cotton when my family visited Louisiana and passed cotton fields.
To preserve some of these items I store them in used clean baby food jars and ziploc bag type bags. I store it all in a plastic shoe box with a lid. I store the box up high on a shelf in our homeschooling area. Several of these items we have had for years like the dragonfly and it stored in the baby food jar has preserved it in tact. I do not let my kids get into this unless I sit with them and we look and study these items together. I pull out the microscope and we look at some of these items close up.
This is perfect for girls and boys as well as various ages. My toddler’s favorite is the dragonfly and the honey bee. Seeing these items in a book is great but to get them in kids hands up close is a whole different learning experience.
Have you ever made a nature box? If so what is inside of yours? If you have never made a nature box and plan too what would you like to include inside?
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I absolutely love this idea. My boys would love it, too!
Oh my this is a great and easy idea! Thanks for sharing.
I love how easy this is, too! Awesome idea.
Such a great idea! We found a snakeskin in our neighborhood one day, too — it kind of freaked me out!
I really like the idea of creating a Nature Box filled with things that they are curious to learn about. It makes it more fun for them to pick and choose what they want to know about from their outside surroundings.
My kids are learning this in Grade 1 right now and love collecting items, we need to try this!
This is seriously great. I love that I can add to the box over the years. It’s fun that they can discover the nature items and then they can explore them later on. So fun!
Thank you for sharing. This is an something we could all do together as a family and have fun doing it.
That is just a great nature box. I never thought of making one, but think it would be a great thing to do with the kids. Thanks so much
What a cool idea! I’ve never made a nature box before, but it looks like a great way to have fun with the kids.
What a fun idea! My kids like collecting stuff, so we’ll have to try this!
My son would have had such a great time with this when he was younger. Things like this are always so interesting to me.
I’m going to have to do this with my daughter. She’d have such a great time.
Great idea! We love doing nature hunts so they’d be all for this!
Great idea! I’ve been trying to figure out a way to keep all the items my girls bring home. Your idea is so simple, but pure genius! Thanks so much 🙂
you are braver than me to pick up that snack skin, all the ohter things are more my speed. I know you will get a lot of lessons out of this one box.
What a great teaching idea for the kids. I bet it would make for a fun show and tell day at school also!
So easy and fun! Refreshing to see kids do something with nature and not just sit behind electronics all day! Thanks!
What a wonderful idea! My son is done with his schooling, but he would have loved a nature box and I am always collecting things that are different and special from our yard and keeping them, like pine cones and acorns. It is such fun.
I would love if you would stop by and share this post at my blog party, Celebrate It! It’s all about celebrating the everyday things we do!
I love this idea! Will have to try it when my kids are a little older.
We make fairy houses pretty frequently so we gather things that can be repurposed when we are out on our walks. Recently we made little pinecone people.
Wow, never really thought about it but it looks like something fun and different to do!
This is such a great idea. Kids would love to learn from all of these parts of the nature box.
I love this idea. Would be great for spur of the moment nature treks in the summer.
I can’t love this enough. I went to college for Wildlife Science so this is right up my alley. This is the stuff I want my daughter to learn and I believe teaching kids about the natural world is the only thing that can save it.
I love the snake skin! We bought an old cheap $10 entertainment system from the thrift store that we’ve repurposed and turned into a science center in our basement for the kids! It’s been a great place for their rocks, leaves, science experiments, bugs, and all sorts of other nature items they’ve picked up along the way!
What a great idea. We love finding things in nature but I never thought to make a box from them.
I can see where some kids would really enjoy this. Me not so much, I want no part of things like snakeskins.
I love this idea and think it is a fantastic way to teach kids about nature. Thanks for sharing.
Wait, did you say you found a snakeskin in your yard? Yikes!
You have some very cool things there! Where the heck did you find Alligator Scoots? That is such a fun way to get your kids to learn nature.
Jodi, they had a wildlife booth at our local fair a few years ago and they let the kids have them so I kept them.
That’s awesome! My son is into the outdoors. He would love to make a nature box!
This is such a cool idea. My son would be so into this. What a great activity!
That would be fun to go around the yard. We’ve got such a great space to do this, I don’t know why we haven’t yet!
That snake skin is so creepy. I’m not a fan of snakes at all. Great nature box though.
No we do not have a nature box here. I think it would be a great idea though since we have a lot of stuff in our yard!
We do nature crafts all the time. My kids would love something like this!
Wow there are a lot of cool things in this box.
You’re such a great mom. I need to do something like this for my boys. I am not creative so thanks for given the idea.
I am loving your nature box. I am just getting into homeschooling and slowly into things that are not in the curriculum.
This looks like an amazing and easy idea to get them excited about nature.
We love nature and exploration walks. My son’s room is like one giant nature box.
Heading to the Botanical Gardens today for a day of observation and fun!
This is a wonderful idea I would have a wonderful time doing this with my grandchildren. thanks so much for the idea.
Love your Nature Box! We can do this at school for language development!
What a wonderful idea!
Where did you get the snake skin?
I would love to create something like this for my kids. They would be all over that!
i just accidentally started a nature box. doesnt have much in it, we moved from pa to az this year and ive been into rocks my whole life. so i have a couple pretty cool rocks, amethyst, lapadolite, gold, even a rock in the shape of a snake head, pinecone, some ammomite fossils, a coral fossil, some of my rocks i tumbled, an arrowhead, some fire agate, what i really want to do is have my friends from pa send me some autumn leaves, then ill preserve them either microwave method or pectin and line the bottom with it. supposed to go out tonight to get a couple more fire agates and things but i keep the box in my art corner. i dont get out as much here as i did in pa and i love nature so i guess its my way to enoy it being away from it.