Nature tables are the perfect place to store and display all those nature finds that we “just had to bring home.” Honestly, I am almost as bad as the kids about this… Ours is on our porch so that things can be easily added and subtracted at will and we change it out for each season. (And it substantially reduces the stray sticks in the house..) In summer, the rock and shell collections get especially prolific, along with interesting sticks, feathers and flowers. Use log slices or old shelves and add some height. Try a vase to hold flowers. I like to stick rooting houseplants on the nature table too, they love the heat and filtered light, while the kids love to watch the growing roots.
The kids are always tinkering with the arrangement and moving things around which is great. This is actually my first “rule” of nature tables, they are made by kids, for kids, not elaborate flat lays for instagram. These aren’t fancy no touch decorations, they are places for kids to learn and experiment. Sometimes that means weird arrangements of rocks, and sometimes that means crushing shells. (You are starting to see why mine id outside now aren’t you… lol) My second “rule” is that a nature table should be mostly nature. You don’t have to make all kinds of dolls and crafts for your nature table. We usually have a candle or two, but really all you need is nature.
That said, sometimes like to find interesting ways to display treasures so they aren’t just sitting around collecting dust. I made a dedicated rock collection table years ago, but we still seem to get inundated with shells and rocks. And it’s a great place to display crafts if you so desire. Check out some of our summer nature collection projects- perfect for a summer nature table!
- Shell Wreaths
- Sea Glass Mobile
- Shell Candles
- Rock Table
- Turmeric Dyed Bunting
- Gyotaku Banner
[…] am not a huge bunting person generally, but our summer nature table needed more sunny yellow. At the same time i had been meaning to make some non-indigo shibori […]