Grow a unicorn hatching eggs, six pack

A jar on the kitchen counter becomes a tiny observation post. Drop the egg in a bowl of water, leave it alone, and check back to find the shell breaking apart as a hidden creature grows inside. It gives small hands something slow to look forward to each morning before breakfast.

Waiting by the bowl

Drop the speckled shell into cold tap water. The surface softens slowly, then fractures in strange lines until the horn pushes its way out into the kitchen light.

Slow growth in water

Leave the little figure submerged across a few days. The material takes in water, filling out its mane and legs until it reaches its full size on the counter.

Shells on the windowsill

Pieces of cracked shell dry out fast in the sun. Children tend to save the painted fragments in little piles beside the jar long after the creature itself has dried.

Lined up to dry

Lift the figure out of the water and set it on a paper towel. It sits firm on a low shelf, ready to join pocket collections or ride in cardboard box carts.