What is it with kids and rocks? Why does every kid have a burgeoning rock collection in their pockets? I cannot tell you how many rocks I’ve washed and dried since we had kids. (I’m not sure if that’s a comment on their rock collecting or my lackadaisical laundry skills BUT STILL.)

Awhile back I had the opportunity to redecorate our back porch, a place that had become a repository for a lot of our junk. And this junk included several buckets of seashells I was not allowed to throw away and piles of seemingly random rocks. Gah. Lucky for me we already had a wire baker rack out there, so I took it upon myself to pull everything off of it and reorganize several of our family collections to create a wee bit of a display. I’m so happy I did.

First, I found a few old serving trays and secondhand teacups. Then I sorted everything into piles – rocks, shells, and random nature stuff – and grouped them on the trays. The trays work well here because they act as a catch all, and each collection can be pulled out for closer inspection.

The first tray: dead bugs and things. You think I’m kidding, but I think the girls like this one the best. There’s a butterfly or two, a bird nest, a couple of bees, pretty feathers, snake skin, the dried husk of a cicada, part of a wasp nest, and some pretty beach glass. (Keep a kid-friendly magnifying glass at hand too!)

The second tray contains sea shells from our travels, and some sand in tiny jars:

The rocks are on the third shelf. These are the best and most interesting ones in our collection:

This turned out to be one of my favourite ways to display our collections, and it’s extra special because it doesn’t just belong to me, but it’s become a family effort. It may seem like a whole bunch of extra clutter, but I think by keeping this kind of stuff around that we’re encouraging our children to be mindful of the natural world around them. And that can only be a good thing.