By Laura 19 Comments
Learn how to make FUN treasure stones that are hard like rocks that kids can easily break open to find a treasure inside! Get the easy treasure stone recipe and step-by-step instructions.
There’s just something magical about creating a cool kids activity out of basic ingredients you already have. These treasure stones I made for my son’s jungle safari birthday partyare just that!
What are Treasure Stones?
Great question! A treasure stone is a fun creation that you make that looks like a rock and is hard on the outside, but is easily broken by a child with their hands to reveal a treasure inside.
Making treasure stones is similar to making play dough. The main difference is that small toys are baked inside of the dough balls.
Kids love to break open their “rock” and find treasure inside!
What Toys Can You Bake Inside a Treasure Stone?
You can add many different types of small toys to the inside of these treasure rocks.
- plastic animals
- kids rings and necklaces
- coins
- toy cars
- and so much more!
The sky is really the limit. Most items are protected as they bake in the oven by the dough that surrounds them.
Be sure to keep an eye on your treasure stones while they bake, to be safe.
What Do You Do with Treasure Stones?
- Turn the stones into dinosaur eggs for a dinosaur dig party like we did.
- Treasure stones can be made to look like cannonballs for a pirate party.
- Let the kids go on a hunt for the “rocks” in the backyard.
- Pass them out as party favors at the end of a party.
Kids (and adults) of all ages will love breaking open their toys and seeing what’s inside!
Helpful Tip: This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to make more for a party or lots of friends.
Want to see the unique twist I gave these for our jungle safari party?
All our little guests wore jungle explorer tags. They searched through the jungle to find elephant dung specimen for scientific experiments. 😉
I made the dough a bit more wetfor these. That way they flattened out when they were baked, which made them look more realistic.
The “elephant dung” was hidden all over the yard, then kids had to go on an expedition to find them all.
Thankfully, the adults all thought it was hilarious. The kids loved breaking their rocks open and finding out what was inside.
Check out more of ourjungle safari partyto see ourparty decorations and food. In part 2, I share ouractivities, cake, and FREE printable safari passes.
Enjoy!
Print Pin Recipe
DIY Treasure Stones
Learn how to make DIY treasure stones that are hard on the outside like rocks that can easily break open to find a treasure inside.
Active Time5 minutes mins
Baking time45 minutes mins
Total Time50 minutes mins
Course: Kids Craft
Cuisine: American
Keyword: easy, kids
Materials
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup used coffee grounds (I get them for free from Starbucks since I don't drink coffee)
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1/4 cup sand (You can use beach sand, playground sand, sand from Home Depot, or even cornmeal if you don't have any sand)
- 3/4 cup water
- Small toys and prizes (Marbles, plastic animals, fake or real coins, and plastic jewelry are all great choices!)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees F. Combine all of the dry ingredients, then slowly add in the water and stir until the mixture becomes a dough. If the dough is still too wet, add some flour or sand to get the right consistency. The dough should be nice and firm, and not too wet.
Roll a piece of dough into a ball, add a toy or two to the middle, then roll the dough back into a nice, smooth ball.
Place the balls of dough on a foil-covered baking sheet, and bake for 45 minutes. Be sure to let them cool completely before letting kids break them open.
Notes
This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to make more treasure stones!
This DIY treasure stone article was updated in February 2021 and was originally published in January 2014.
About Laura
Hi! I'm Laura, owner and creator of Make Life Lovely, a creative blog filled with creative craft tutorials, DIY projects, party tips, holiday ideas, home decor, and so much more! Make Life Lovely is dedicated to making everyday life more lovely, and I hope to inspire you and show you how!
Comments
Very fun Laura! Thanks for sharing!
Reply
Thanks Lisa! These are always such a hit with the kids, they love them!
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Tess says
That looks super cool.
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Laura says
Thanks so much Tess! They were really fun to make, and the kids loved them!
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Melody Mendenhall says
Love this! I didn’t have any sand or cornmeal so I just made it without and it still came out great! The coffee gives it a great color and texture, and my little paleontologists will have so much fun searching for dinosaurs tomorrow
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Maria says
They look great!
The 175 degrees are Celsius or Fahrenheit?Reply
andrea says
Do the eggs break easily?
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Andia Blake says
Have you ever had troubke with toys melting?
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Laura says
Nope, never! I’ve used plastic dinosaurs, plastic rings, and more, and I’ve never had a problem. They seem to be protected inside the mixture that you place it in. You can definitely keep an eye on it if it’s something that you’re worried about, but I’ve never had any toys melt inside. Good luck, these are always such a hit with the kiddos!
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JS says
How many eggs does this make?
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Laura says
I really wish I had written that part down, but I don’t remember the exact number. It definitely made a handful of eggs though!
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Melissa says
Hi there,
How far in advance can these be made?
Thank you for a lovely idea!!!
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Laura says
You’re so welcome! I’ve only made them a few days in advance and they were just fine.
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Melissa says
Hi there,
How far in advance can I make these? Can they end up getting soft?
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Laura says
Great question! I’ve made them a couple days in advance and they were just fine. If you go earlier than that please come bakc and let us know how it worked out!
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sheila says
how many stones does the recipe make?
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Laura says
Hi Sheila! The recipe makes 3-4 stones, depending on how big you make them. Mine were pretty good size, so you could definitely make them smaller and get more stones from one batch. Good luck!
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Lp says
What do the kids break them with? Thanks
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Laura says
They are hard enough to stay in balls but soft enough for the kids to break them open with their hands. These are so much fun!
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