Donate a Seashell Kit to Your Child’s School

Some of My Seashells

Even if you live miles from the ocean or don’t have any seashells yourself, you can give a gift of seashells to your child’s school.

Recently my eighth-grader came home and actually told me what he was doing in school. “We are studying shells”, he said. Then he stuffed himself with junk food and disappeared into his room to play video games. I did manage to get a “no” out of him when I asked if his teacher had any actual seashells, and I thought “this is my opportunity to make the offer”.

Since I began writing about my own seashell collection, I’ve discovered that the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum, on Sanibel Island in Florida, sells seashell kits, but only to schools. The request for a kit and / or DVD must be submitted on school letterhead. What a fantastic opportunity for schools everywhere to have a bunch of beautiful, tropical shells for hands on teaching!

I offered to buy the kit for my son’s teacher and sent in a check so she could order it, but in the mean time I sent in some of my own shells for the class to “play with”. Personally I’d rather donate something useful than spend money on fundraisers buying things I don’t need so the school can get a small profit.

The southern beaches have unique shells that won’t be found in most places, so to have them as a teaching tool would be helpful for teachers and interesting for students – of all ages.

I hope to get to see the kit when it comes in and if I do, I’ll share the pictures here.