Nature Basket

I have come across the idea of a nature table and really liked the idea. There were a few I found which quite inspired me (some pics here, here and here). I thought this was a nice way of enriching my children’s everyday environment a little.

Ideally I would have liked some kind of large tray made from natural looking wood, but had to make do with a basket until I come across one. I filled the basket with some semi-precious stones (quartz, amethyst, maybe turquoise or lapis and I don’t know what the others are), an ammonite fossil, some pine cones, an acorn, some shells and a starfish. I’m trying to encourage them to take ownership of the basket, keep an eye on the baby when he plays with it and put it out of reach when they are finished with it.

The idea is for them to add things that they find and for the contents of the basket to change with the seasons to reflect what is happening in the natural world outside. It’s also an opportunity for them to enjoy exploring the objects and exercise their senses.

At the moment they are thrilled that I am letting them play with the colourful precious stones which are usually kept out of their reach. I just hope Gorgeous doesn’t start lobbing the stones at people.