The Museum of Turnupstuffing: celebrating found art treasures

We are very fond of Pippi Longstocking in our house and her inspiration is seen in lots of different ways – from her encouragement to climb trees, through the idea that fun and creativity is rarely tidy to our latest passion: turnupstuffing.

Do you know Pippi? She’s nine years old, lives by herself and doesn’t go to school. Her mother has died and her father is a Cannibal King. And she’s celebrated in a series of books by Astrid Lindgren. She is also an expert at turnupstuffing – and so are my kids!

What’s a turnupstuffer? I’ll let Pippi explain.

‘Somebody who finds the stuff that turns up if only you look, of course. What else would it be?… The whole world is filled with things that are just waiting for someone to come along and find them, and that’s just what a turnupstuffer does.’

{Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren}

Children naturally make great turnupstuffers, being closer to the ground with eyes peeled to spot things that adults rush passed with out noticing. And what kind of things might you turn up? Pippi suggests gold nuggets, ostrich feathers and dead mice but we haven’t found any of those yet. What you turn up depends on where you look, and sometimes there are surprising treasures to find.

Of course, I want my children to take the utmost care when we are out and about on our walks and never pick up anything that might harm them. That’s where our Rules of Turnupstuffing are applied – so we can enjoy discovering found treasures safely.

The rules of turnupstuffing

:: Keep your eyes pealed when you are out and about to spot hidden treasures

:: You can only touch something after your adult has said it’s OK

:: If you can work out who the treasure belongs to you must do all you can to return it to them (So a lost teddy found in a friend’s garden is returned to them)

:: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A fir cone, pebble or button are treasures just as much as a gold nugget if you like the look and feel of them

Using your turnedup stuff

And what do you do with the treasures you have turned up? Welcome to the Museum of Turnupstuffing.

Previously treasures have been hoarded in pockets, stashed in the buggy or sometimes displayed on a nature table, but when I discovered this wooden house in a charity shop it seemed the perfect place to showcase our treasures.

A couple of coats of acrylic paint created different galleries within the museum.

And a sign at the entrance welcomed visitors.

When the children turnup stuff, they’re added to the museum. Sometimes like objects are classified together in one of the galleries, sometimes they like to contrast two items that are different in size or texture (like when they found a pompom and a marble on the same outing).

Items ebb and flow through the museum as the children decide to use them in their play, add them to a sensory tub or include them in some art they are making. But a new round of turnupstuffing on our next walk soon turns up new treasures to join the collection.

Ways to use found treasures

Have you ever been turnupstuffing with your kids? You’re good company! Not only does Pippi turnup stuff but so do the Kids Stuff World kids. And what else can you do with the stuff you turn up?

:: use them as part of an Incy Wincy book

:: make a found object mosaic

:: include them in some garden tile art

:: try to identify each item you find: what is it made from, what does it feel like? Can you make up a story to explain how it was lost?

:: what else? How do you use found objects?