Acorn Cap Treasures

L and I were so excited the other day when we noticed that acorns were starting to fall from the Oak trees. We collected as many acorns and acorn caps as we could carry and rushed home to make "acorn cap treasures" with them. This craft is so much fun to do and to observe that we'll probably be doing it every summer when the first acorns begin to fall. 

Materials needed:

-acorn caps

-markers (any kind should work)

-Elmer's Glue

-a medium container 

-rice or dried beans or lentils

First, color the inside of your acorn caps with the markers. L loved this part, but being only 2 yrs old she wasn't the best at coloring the entire cap...so I helped filling in any missed spots.

Next, pour some of the rice or beans into your container...it only needs to be about half an inch deep.  Have your child lay all the caps on top, one by one. Press down gently on each cap making sure they are upright...well, bottoms-up. 

Now, fill each acorn cap with the glue. This was our favorite part, watching the colors bleed out into the glue.

Wait and watch your acorn caps for a couple days as the glue begins to dry and the colors change. L loved checking on her treasures throughout the day, observing all the color variations. They take a full two days to dry!

When your acorn cap treasures are dry, the insides will be nice and shiny like true jewels. Now it's time to play!

L likes to pretend that her acorn caps are fairy treasures and coins. She tried giving me a couple of my favorite colored ones, the orange, in exchange for a cookie this afternoon. Ha! I love seeing L's imagination at work!

We also have fun playing matching games with them. We turn all the caps upside-down on a blanket. Then, one of us says a color and we take turns trying to find it. With the same set up, you can also take turns trying to find two of any matching color. So much fun to make and to play with! What games did your kids come up with???