Kids Crafts With Treasure Chests
Children love adventure, secret treasures and having things made especially for them. Combining these things into treasure chest crafts not only gives your child a place to store his favorite treasures, it helps keep your child's room neat and orderly. Plus, most treasure chest crafts use recycled items. Help your child make a treasure chest on a rainy day and fill it with treasures from nature when the sun returns.
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Shoebox Treasure Chest
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Choose a shoebox with a lid for this activity. The lid need not be attached to the box, but if it is it makes the project a little easier. Paint the outside of the box black or brown, depending on your child's preferences. Line the inside of the box with spray adhesive and felt or old black denim. You can also use velvet if you have it on hand.
If the box lid is not attached to the box, create a hinge with masking tape. Use several layers of tape and paint the tape gold to mimic a real metal hinge. Glue pressed metal buttons and fake rhinestones to the box for a pirate's treasure chest. If your child loves ghost stories, paint a skull and crossbones on the top with her name underneath.
Chest from Scratch
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Even if you don't have an appropriate box on hand, you can still help your child create his dream treasure chest. Slit open the sides of a very large cardboard box and lay it open on a flat surface. Trace out the outline of a flat, unfolded box on the cardboard piece. This may consist of six equal squares that form a cross shape when combined, or one large rectangle for the bottom of the box and six trapezoid shapes around it that will fit together to create a more traditional treasure chest shape.
Cut out your box outline and fold it together into a box. Tape the corners of the box with masking tape. Paint the entire box and decorate it as desired with paint, coin beads and small plastic bones.
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Hat Box Princess
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Hat boxes make for unusual treasure chests, but can hold special items all the same. Help your little girl decorate the outside of the box with her favorite color paint. Add stenciled patterns like dragonflies, princess crowns, fairies or flowers. Wrap the edge of the hat box lid in ribbon and add ribbon handles to the sides. Line the inside of the chest with satin. You may even want to glue a pretty mirror to the underside of the lid to make it into a princess's perfect vanity treasure chest.
Commando Loot Box
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Little boys and girls fascinated with army adventures require a place to store the treasures they find on their special missions. A small plastic tackle box or plastic box with a hinged lid works well for this kind of treasure chest. Rough up the outside of the box with steel wool and paint it with primer. Allow your child to sponge paint a camouflage pattern on the box. It can be traditional army green, brown and black or you can use any other colors your child wants. Add a small compass and "tactical map" to the inside of the chest to help your little one find his way through foreign territory.
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References
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