If your Brisbane Kids are anything like mine, they wonโt be able to walk past any of these seed pods without insisting on bringing them home. There are some on our deck, thereโs one on the kitchen windowsill, thereโs even one in my handbag! If youโre inundated too, then fear not, there are a million and one uses for these wonderful creations of nature โฆ here are the first seventeen!
Note: Seeds from the Moreton Bay Chestnut tree are poisonous if eaten, so young Brisbane Kids may need supervision.
1. The perfect boat
Seed pods are perfect as boats for play people. Make bath time extra fun or head down to the duck pond to set sail!
2. Trinket bowl
Pods are great for organising and storing your jewellery and other trinkets.
3. Conkers!
Back in the days before Minecraft and Angry Birds, kids played real games like the old playground favourite – Conkers. Thread a knotted string through a hole in your chestnut seed and youโre ready to play! Instructions on how to play conkers can be found here
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4. Nature toy
Take a pod with 3-5 seeds and paint each seed and its corresponding chamber a different colour โ hey presto, a toddler sorting activity! Toddlers practise fine motor skills and learn colours through sorting the seeds into their matching chambers.
5. Homemade potpourri holder
We filled our pod with lovely aromatics โ cinnamon, cloves, dried flowers and dried orange โ to make this wonderful potpourri.
6. Art stamps
Make wonderful nature art using seeds and pods as paint stamps!
7. Snake
String lots of seeds together to make a cool chestnut snake, like this one from Red Ted Art.
8. Gift box
Go green with gift wrapping by decorating a pod with paint, nail varnish, craft items and a ribbon tie, and making it into a gift box!
9. Desk tidy
Large seed pods are excellent for keeping kidsโ desks clutter free, with separate chambers for all their stationery items.
10. Gumnut baby bed
Brisbane Kids will love this super cute idea of using an empty seed pod as a cosy cot for gumnut babies!
11. Planter
This is great for encouraging green thumbs! Use empty seed pods to grow new seeds or plant some flowers or herbs and watch them grow.
12. Spider web
Stick skewers into your seed, then loop string around each one, going round and round till you have a cool spider web. Then simply stick on eyes and fangs and push in some pipe cleaner legs to make a scary spider.
13. Spider repellent
If youโre not a fan of the eight-legged beasties, an old wivesโ tale says that leaving chestnuts around your house can keep away spiders. Arachnophobes, get collecting!
14. Rolling art
Get your Brisbane Kid to make a cool painting like this one from nurturestore.co.uk. Just dip a seed in paint and roll it around a piece of paper to create a cool pattern. If you have an old tray to do this on it will help contain the mess.
15. Soap dish
Seed pod = soap dish. Done!
16. Chestnut animals
Why not make some funny chestnut animals like these ones by aestheticfauna.com
17. Painted seeds
Kids will love painting and decorating their own seeds with bright colours, fun shapes or interesting patterns.
Get collecting today and enjoy some super fun seed and pod crafts!
We’ve got lots of great Craft and Fun Ideas for your Brisbane Kids, as well as tonnes of ideas for getting outdoors and exploring nature. For more nature play, check out the Brisbane Kids Scavenger Hunt Adventure.
Kylie Smith
When doing these activities with children, it should be noted that this plant’s leaves and seeds are poisonous if ingested and supervision should be paramount at all times. It is the Moreton Bay Chestnut tree or Castanospermum australe.