DIY Toddler Treasure Box

The munchkin loves to put his favorite things into small boxes that can be carried around our apartment. Usually the boxes are packed with Cars 2 Duplos and he has a secret hiding spot somewhere around here too. We have yet to find it, but we know it exists. Things will disappear for days at a time only to reappear when my son feels like unearthing them. Fingers crossed he never decides to put one of our iPhones in there!

Today was cold and snowy, but not the fluffy kind of snow that’s good for playing or snowman making. So instead of heading outdoors we spent our morning and part of the afternoon making a toddler treasure box. :)

I got this idea a few days ago when we were at the craft store and I saw these $1 round cardboard boxes. Taking my son’s newfound love of painting into account, I thought it would be fun to let him decorate a box and use it to store some of his favorite toys. Stickers seemed like a good idea too, so I let him pick a couple sheets of stickers in the scrapbooking section. Not surprisingly, he choose train and fire engine stickers.

To make the treasure box I spread a big sheet on our kitchen floor, then let the munchkin pick 4 colors of paint. We used our Crayola Washable Paints and he picked green, orange (“orangen” as he calls it), purple and white. After pouring a small amount of paint into four paper bowls, I gave the cardboard box to him and let him get to work. I gave him a couple toddler paintbrushes, but ultimately he thought using his hands was better.

Once he finished painting, we made a snowman pizza! Perfect snowy day lunch fare don’t you think?

A few hours later the paint had dried and we finished our project by adding the stickers he’d selected at the craft store. This was a great activity because it gave him a chance to practice his fine motor skills as he took each sticker off the sheet and put it on his treasure box, just so, exactly where he wanted it.

That’s it! Altogether a super easy project that doesn’t cost too much, especially if you already have toddler paints at home. I have a feeling we’ll be making more of these. :)