Nature Finds: Pine Cone Challenge

Pinecones are perfect for so many winter crafts, but when you would like to have them they are often under quite a bit of snow where we live! Collect pinecones and set them aside for some activities we will be doing in the winter.  We hope you will join us!

Materials

• Collection container  (e.g., something like a bucket where the pinecones won’t poke through it like a bag)

Directions

• Go out for a nature walk and collect pinecones.  We recommend the Ponderosa Pine type or something similar as they are often easy to work with for children and are not so sappy.

• See how many pinecones you can collect together.  If you go out more than once, challenge yourself to collect more the second day.

• When you get the pinecones home, how could you compare them? (E.g, Which one was the smallest one you found?  The largest?  Which one was the most unique? Why?)

• Put your pinecones in a box and store them for some fun winter projects that we will have on our site!  Or think of your own to make!

Purpose

• Collecting items for future use
• Building number sense (comparing, counting etc.)

Safety Notes

• If you are collecting pinecones in a residential area, be sure to ask property owners before removing pinecones from their properties (e.g., front lawns) and watch out for things like vehicles.
• Try to avoid pinecone types that are often sappy.