Walnut Shell Gift Hunt: A Holiday Tradition
This walnut shell gift hunt is a beautiful and magical tradition for the holidays. Think Easter egg hunt, except instead of using eggs we’re using walnut shells. We do this on Christmas morning in our home, but it would also be really fun to do on Christmas Eve, New Years’ Day, during a holiday party, or on any special day that your family celebrates during the holiday season. This is very simple to create and you can fill the walnut shells with any tiny treasures that you can think of. I included some ideas for small gifts below! This holiday tradition was inspired by the “Walnut Shell Gift Box” featured in the book The Children’s Year (a wonderful resource for Waldorf and nature inspired seasonal crafts).
Instructions:
Split walnut shells in half. I like to use a butter knife or an oyster knife to do this. Carefully wedge the knife into the indentation on the bottom of a walnut (see images below) and gently wiggle the knife until it begins to open. Jiggle the knife along the seam of the walnut and gradually push the halves apart.
Remove the walnuts from the shells and gently scrape out the insides of the walnut shell.
Fill the walnut shells with small gifts.
Use a small drop of glue to hold the two halves of the walnut shells together.
Optionally, tie a ribbon or string around the walnut shell gift boxes.
Hide the walnuts around your home for a gift hunt.
Gifts to put inside the walnut shells:
Miniature felted animals or babies
Felted balls (I made little white balls that my child can pretend are snowballs)
Loose parts
Crystals
Marbles
Candies and chocolates
Miniature dinosaurs or other tiny animal figurines
Jewelry for older children
I hope you enjoyed learning about one of our favorite holiday traditions! I would love to hear about your favorite holiday traditions in the comments!