Welcome to my blog! These are just a few ideas for activities you can do with your child to encourage them to enjoy nature. They can all be done indoors or in the garden.

Five things to do with egg boxes!

I don't know about you, but we go through a lot of eggs in our house. Dippy, hard-boiled, scrambled, omelettes - my preschooler will eat them any which way. I've started saving the boxes, and have realised just how many things you can do with them.

Egg box caterpillar

Spring is a great time to start teaching your child about caterpillars and butterflies. Here's a really simple way to make your own caterpillar:

• Cut the top off your egg box (save it to make a treasure box, see below).
• Cut the six 'knobbly bits' down the middle, so that you have a strip of three. Trim around the sides
• Cut a V shape into the side of each cup, so that the strip becomes springy, and you can make it move like a caterpillar.

Let your child decorate it however they want - you could use paints, pens or crayons, or even stick on small bits of coloured paper. Together, hunt for two small sticks about the same size, and push two holes in the head of your caterpillar to create feelers. Draw on a smiley face and, hey presto!

For more ideas on how to use egg boxes, check out this previous blog post.

There are lots more resources for learning about caterpillars and butterflies available from Butterfly Conservation

Treasure box

The top of the egg box can be used to make a box to collect 'treasures' - stones, feathers, bits of twig, grass, flowers, etc. Take a piece of patterned paper (eg old wrapping paper or packaging material) and trim it to fit over the label of the egg box lid. Glue it down and, ta daa! No longer an egg box but a treasure box. Kids will buy into this, and take delight in scavenging around the garden or woods. I've done this with children as old as 6 or 7 who've really got into exploring and finding new and interesting things.

Colour scavenger hunt

Similar to the treasure box activity, but this time use the bottom of the egg box. Put a blob of colour (paint or pen) inside each cup, and ask the child to find things that match that colour.

This idea came from one of the resources sent to us through our Woodland Trust family membership.

Planting seeds

An egg box makes a great eco-friendly planter. Sunflowers are really easy to grow. Start your seeds off indoors. Put some compost in the egg box, plant a seed into each cup and give it some water. Find a plastic tray or box lid to pop it on if you're going to keep it on a windowsill to begin with. Encourage your child to remember to water the seeds, and in a few weeks you should have plants big enough to rehome outside or in a bigger pot (check the instructions on the pack you have bought as varieties differ).

To make a Mother's Day gift, remove the label from the top of your egg box and let your child paint on the top to make a pretty lid. Plant the seeds in the bottom cups of the box, and fold over the lid. Tell the recipient they'll need to open it up carefully and remember to water the seeds. Happy growing!

Creatures or plants

This last idea is where you can let your imagination run wild. I always think that the bottom 'knobbly' bits of an egg box look like the scales of some sort of creature. For a pirate-themed activity I paint them green and put them on the ground. Now they are crocodiles, and the child has to complete an obstacle course without stepping on them and getting eaten!

Perhaps you could make a dragon, as we did a few weeks ago to celebrate the Lunar New Year. You can also cut out each individual cup and paint or colour it to be the petals of a flower. You could make a garland of them, or use pipe cleaners or lolly sticks to make stems.

If you have any other creative ideas for reusing egg boxes, I'd love to hear about them via Facebook or Instagram!