Make your own treasure island! A more challenging activity for experienced crafters. Use it for decoration or to play with. Too hard? Look at the bottom of the page for suggestions on how to make this craft easier.
Stuff Needed:
- A paper plate.
- A small cardboard box (I used a medium-sized match box).
- Green paper (or crepe paper or tissue paper).
- A pencil.
- A thin stick.
- Clear sticky tape.
- A pair of scissors.
- A glue stick.
- Thin card (e.g. a recycled cereal box).
- Tin foil.
- A hole punch.
- A small piece of tissue paper (any colour – for inside the treasure box). Make it slightly bigger than the bottom of the box.
- (optional) Sea shells for decoration.
- (optional) Liquid glue to stick items onto the island.
Instructions:
- If the cardboard box doesn’t have a lid that opens, cut a piece of card to make the lid.
- Paint the bottom of the paper plate yellow to look like sand. Paint the small box inside and out (you don’t need to paint underneath it) and the lid (both sides). I used brown paint to look like wood but you could choose any colour. Leave everything to dry.
To Make the Palm Tree:
- Cut a strip of green paper (I used a quarter of a piece of A4 paper). Fold it in half lengthways.
- Turn the folded paper so the opening is at the top, then fold the top piece down as shown in the picture. Flip the paper over and do the same on the other side.
- Fold the whole thing in half. Stick the end of the stick onto the folded end securely with tape.
- Check which side opens. Draw a curved line from the top corner on the opposite side that runs down the side that opens (go very close to the edge of the paper). This should look like half a leaf.
- Carefully cut along your line, cutting all of the sheets of paper at the same time. Next make small cuts towards the middle all along the curved side. Be careful not to cut all the way across.
- Open out the leaves one at a time and bend them in different directions to look more like a tree.
To Make the Treasure
- Use a glue stick to cover a piece of thin card all over with glue. Stick a piece of tin foil over the top, shiny side up, smoothing it out as you go. Flip the card over and repeat this step on the other side. Leave it to dry for a few minutes.
- Empty the hole punch into the bin. Punch lots of separate holes in the foil-covered card. You can cut the card into strips to make it easier. Empty the hole punch onto the table (or into a bowl). You should have lots of small silver circles. You can push them flat with your finger if you want to. Some might not have worked so you can pick these out and discard them.
To Put it Together
- When the paint has dried completely, stick the palm tree to the back corner of the box with tape. If you want to, or if the tree is a bit too heavy to stay upright when you let go, stick the box onto the plate using tape or liquid glue. Arrange a small piece of tissue paper inside the box and sprinkle the hole-punched coins over the top. Add shells if you have them for decoration. You may choose to stick each piece onto the plate if you’re making your treasure island for decoration. Alternatively you might want to leave the pieces free to move so you can play with it.
Alternatives
The treasure island craft is quite complex. Younger children may find it too difficult. Here are some suggestions on how to simplify it:
- Choose a box for the treasure that already has a lid that opens.
- For the palm tree, cut lots of strips of green paper and just tape the ends in a bunch onto the stick.
- If the palm tree won’t stay upright, you could use a cocktail stick instead as it’s lighter. You could also put a blob of modelling clay onto the plate to push the stick into.
- For the coins, use gold, silver, yellow or red card and skip the steps that use tin foil. Yellow card will make gold coins, without having to cover it. Red could be rubies. Younger children often enjoy using a hole punch.
If you enjoyed the treasure island and are looking for other complex crafts, you could try making a cardboard tube telescope that can slide closed.