Izzie hurried into the gym with her beach bucket.
It was her first day back at camp after vacation.
"Should we hide these?" she asked Mr. Dunn.
"Before everyone else gets here?"
He looked into the bucket of seashells.
"Yep. Let's go!"
Izzie and Mr. Dunn went out to the playground.
They hid Izzie's shells under the swings and behind the soccer goals.
They hid more shells around the basketball nets and trees.
They finished just as the other campers arrived.
On the blacktop Mr. Dunn explained the day's activity.
"Today you'll hunt for secret treasures.
I can't tell you what they are."
"Then how are we supposed to find them?" Bobby asked.
Mr. Dunn grinned. "I'll give you a clue.
The treasures are from the sea.
When you've found five items, bring them to the table."
"Yeah," Izzie added.
"We're going to make something cool!"
"Good luck!" Mr. Dunn waved the hunters off.
"That clue wasn't very helpful," Jason complained.
"Yes it was.
I know what we're hunting for," Bobby bragged.
"I figured it out!"
Just then Nina shouted, "I found something!"
The boys ran to Nina, who was by the swings.
"Watch where you step!" she squealed. "They're delicate!"
"What are?" Jason asked.
Nina opened up her hands. "The seashells."
Once the campers knew what they were looking for, the seashells were easy to find.
Soon they were all at the table.
"We've got our seashells," Ethan said. "Now what?"
"Well," Mr. Dunn said, "Izzie kindly collected these seashells from the beach for us.
And her dad drilled tiny holes in each one.
So I'll let her explain today's craft."
Izzie beamed proudly.
"We're making sea-breeze wind chimes."
She held up a chime.
"My family made this one last year.
It has four shells and one piece of sea glass.
And this is real driftwood."
"What's driftwood?" asked Bobby.
"Wood that's been floating in the sea for awhile," said Ethan.
"I brought you guys some driftwood too," Izzie added.
"Thanks," Nina said.
"How do we make the chimes?"
"It's easy. You just have to tie everything to the wood," Izzie said.
"First we have to make the hanger.
Cut a piece of string about sixty centimeters long.
Tie one end of the string around one end of your stick.
Then tie the other end of the string to the other end of the stick.
Now we're ready to attach the shells to the chime.
Cut five pieces of string about thirty centimeters long each.
Thread one string through the hole in one shell and knot it.
Then tie the other end of the string to the driftwood.
Keep doing this until all your shells are hanging down from the wood."
The campers laid out their shells, cut string, and got to work.
"Make sure the knots are tight," Mr. Dunn said.
"Hey, Izzie, thanks," Ethan said.
"This reminds me of the beach in California."
"You're welcome," Izzie said.
She tied a small pink scallop shell to her wind chime and smiled.
Today she shared a fun part of her beach vacation with her friends.
And that felt as cool as a sea breeze!
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