One of activities on the old '50 Things To Do Before You're 11&¾' list was 'hunt for treasure on a beach'. That may no longer be valid for the 2013 list, but it is still an excellent activity to do with children and even more so for us as we live in a coastal town. It also seemed the ideal play activity to do with The Boy for the exciting blog hop I'm taking part in (organised by Sun Scholars & Life at the Zoo) called '100 Days of Play'. The idea of the blog hop is to feature 100 different play based activities from bloggers all over the world; one a day, every day, for a 100 days.
Beachcombing Treasure Tile
We like popping down to the beach, and go every Thursday once I get home from school. On our predominantly pebble beach there is always a plethora of treasure to be scavenged; eagle eyes are definitely needed to 'comb' the grey pebbles for the different and occasional glints of seaglass or shells. This time I decided to make a relief tile of the treasure that we found, by using airdry clay and pushing the discoveries into the tile to hold them firmly in place.
I used a takeaway (tupperware) container to hold the airdry clay, this was also useful to clip the lid into place to prevent damage while transporting it home. I also made two holes near the top to tie the string through once it had dried.
We spent a good amount of time looking for fossils in the stones (not many in our area), interesting rocks with patterns in the composition, shells (both barnacle and snail type shells), and seaglass. There's a fair amount of seaglass around our way from the times when Britain was not so caring of the environment. Eroded by time, waves and rocks; the seaglass has an opaque appearance with all rough edges worn away. Occasionally you can find a piece with lettering or numbers on it, as The Boy did, and we came up with a great story of it belonging to a pirate.
This is the type of activity that doesn't have to be limited to a beach, it would be just as good in a woodland for example. The only issue there is that over time the items found in a woodland will rot, but for the short term it would work just as well. It could even work for a box of magic buttons or trinkets collected over time and from different generations.
It's also an excellent resource for storytelling, as mentioned above; the reasons and back-stories to the different treasures could be fascinating and an excellent form of oracy development.
100 Days Of Play Blog Hop
Sharing simple ideas on how to connect with your children through play!
New ideas shared each day from 1st April – 20th July 2013.
100 Days of Play is brought to you by these wonderful bloggers:
Lauren says
I love this!! Well done to you and The Boy.
TheBoyAndMe says
Thanks, we're both really pleased with how it turned out.
Faded Seaside Mama says
What a great way to collect your treasure! We found a fossil recently and Bunny's been nagging me to do something with it – now I have some inspiration! Thanks!
TheBoyAndMe says
Oh brilliant, hope it turns out well.
Lauren says
You know when you put this pic on Instagram I wondered how the stuff was staying in there – I thought that was white sand! Great idea and he looks proud as punch with his treasure trove x
TheBoyAndMe says
Thanks, he calls it his sculpture!
Susan Mann says
ooh love it x
TheBoyAndMe says
Thanks lovely.
Stephanie says
I really love this idea. We go to the beach a lot and I have been looking for ways to save their memories. I would like to invite you to link up this post to my Money Saving Monday Link Up so others can find this great idea as well. I hope to see you there.
Thank You,
Stephanie
http://lifesallaboutlittleadventures.com/2013/05/19/money-saving-monday-week-6/
TheBoyAndMe says
Thank you, I will pop over now.
Coombemill says
I love the way you have displayed your treasure. We have some clay, I wonder if we could do something similar with that? A lovely craft and I personally thing hunting for treasure on the beach should still be on the 50 things list. It's a classic childhood past time. Thanks for linking up to Country Kids.
TheBoyAndMe says
I think it would. I've got another activity lined up with a bag of clay I bought, which would go down a treat at Coombe Mill. In fact it could be something that the children who stay could do, hmmm I'll get on to blogging it really soon!
I agree that I think it should still be on the list, but hey-ho!
Leila - Mud Mud Marvellous Mud says
What a wonderful idea. I can't wait to try this with Little Man. I love the way you hung it too. Lovely xx
TheBoyAndMe says
Thank you, we collect so many shells I wanted him to see them in a way he could touch and remember the times we go to the beach.
Scottish Mum says
I don't think anything beats a good play on the beach. The shells look amazing and since we are lucky enough to live so close to a few beaches, it's a sin we don't go more often. I must make more time for that.
TheBoyAndMe says
It's really easy to ignore what's on your doorstep! It's only now we've got The Boy that we're visiting things we've never been to, or I haven't been to since I was a child myself.
dimples says
I live right next to the beach and I am disgusted with myself that I have never thought about this great idea before! Thanks so so so much for sharing!!
TheBoyAndMe says
My absolute pleasure, it's a simple thing isn't it? But sometimes the simple things don't occur to us! Have fun.
Life with Liv says
What a fantastic idea!!
TheBoyAndMe says
Thanks, the simple ones are the best!
Ness @ One Perfect Day says
Gorgeous! Now I know what to do with all those shells we've collected. I've featured this post on my Tuesday Tots post this week. Thanks for linking up. Feel free to stop by and grab a featured at button if you like! http://www.oneperfectdayblog.net/2013/05/28/outdoor-play-ideas-for-kids/
TheBoyAndMe says
Thanks so much for featuring my craft item, really appreciate it. Hope you manage to make one and have fun with it!
Red Rose Mummy says
This is an utterly brilliant idea! Bud is very into bringing home treasures at the moment so I may steal this idea to create some art work for his bedroom.
TheBoyAndMe says
Thanks! I think it could work well with organic items like pinecones etc as well, although they may not keep as well.
Alexander Residence says
Oh I love this, I used to make treasure boxes using polyfilla, shells and old flora tubs as a kid, takes me right back!
TheBoyAndMe says
Oh yes! I remember doing something very similar, so this must have been in the back of my mind!
Kate says
That is a brilliant idea! I never know what to do with stuff they've collected, now I do 🙂 great post x
Jessica says
I love this idea! Thank you for sharing
BabyDevelopmentSuccess says
Thanks for sharing
BabyDevelopmentSuccess says
Thanks for sharing!