Children will find nature specimens to display in their own private natural history museum. They'll be heading outside to gather nature stuff to identify.
Where are you this summer? Whether you are in the city or country or on the road, at school, home, daycare, or traveling there are bits of nature that you can find, collect and preserve.
You will need a container or two (bag, bottle, jar, basket, box, tub, or bag) for collecting. A magnifying glass is good. Binoculars help you see things you might not notice.
Now head to the yard, a rest stop, a park or vacant lot and gather up all the great stuff you find there. Rocks, tree bark, leaves, pinecones, sticks, grasses, nuts, egg shells, wildflowers, insects, empty nests, feathers, moth cocoons. See what you can find.
Next find a spot where you can lay it out to study. What did you find?
Decide what can be preserved and kept. Some leaves and flowers can be pressed.(A flat box like a candy box or a cereal box with the side cut out will hold leaves and flowers. Rocks and fossils can be kept in plastic sorting containers (such as beaders store beads in.)
Boxes and baskets are good for storing found specimens. Stick feathers in a can or jar. All specimens must be clean and dry to keep well. Have fun and remember only natural items, plants, animals or minerals can go in your museum. Nothing man-made will make a good exhibit. After you have finished your collecting head on to the next part: reasearch and labeling.
