Here’s a riff on an activity Veronika and I have done before, the first time making her a big book of pictures to look through. The big pages proved too hard for her to turn, however, so this mini version had two advantages: the pictures are smaller and they are all kept inside a special box, which meant double the fun!

I had an old recipe card box with a flip-top lid that was perfect for the game. As I surmised, Veronika was enamored with the lid, and that alone might have occupied her most of the morning!

But the fun was just getting started. We went through old nature catalogs and cut out pictures of animals, including bears, rabbits, owls, bobcats, and more. I loved hearing her name each one while we sat together to cut them out and then glue down onto index cards.

Insert into the recipe box and it’s ready for storage and play!

Veronika kept so busy with this little set of cards by herself. As I mentioned, she loved the lid and was so proud as she opened and closed it.

Then there was the surprise each time she opened it to see what picture was waiting for her. She would shuffle through the cards, take them all out, put them back in, and then start all over again.

I hope to add to this collection over time!

Want to make this activity more portable? Put the pictures in a mini photo album instead of a recipe box and you’ll have the prefect take-along version for the car.