Children's Shadow Box of rocks

[fernwood]

My daughter and I were at a craft show yesterday.  Came across a booth with rough, polished and specimen rocks, plus cabs and jewelry.  My daughter started looking through the rough and tumbles, selecting a few pieces.  She said her 6 year old niece recently received a book on rocks and couple rough rocks.  The niece was so excited, all she could do was talk about rocks the last time my daughter was there.

Daughter plans to make a rock shadow box for her niece.  Here is where it gets funny.  My daughter stopped talking about the shadow box, looked down at her selections.  Then realized she did not have to purchase rocks, she could get them from me.  

At lunch we discussed some candidates and why they would be appropriate.  
Petrified wood from AZ and ND.  My daughter lived in AZ for a while and we have relatives in ND.
Specular Hematite.  Just because it sparkles and is unique.
Fossil shells.  What child does not like shells?
Fossil coral.  Cool looking and beautiful.
Lakers.  No explanation needed.
Quartz Crystal Point.  Unique.
Bornite.  Her niece loves anything with a rainbow or lots of colors.
Lava bomb.  These were from the ancient volcanic range  by where her great grandparents lived.

There would be a mix of polished and rough.  Any other suggestions?  My daughter plans on attaching a description of each rock and where it came from (if known) on the back of the box.  

Daughter will be sending me some photos of the finished project when complete.  

[vegasjames]

There are a lot of cool chalcedonies.

And desert roses.

Rainbow obsidian.

Meteorites.

Malachite.

Dioptase.

Phyllite or schist.

Purple fluorite (fluorospar).

Other crystals other than quartz such as selenite crystals.

[Deleted]

Some great ideas so far. I'll add the following...

• geode and/or thunderegg half
• something metallic: pyrite with good crystal form and/or chalcopyrite3
• if the kids won't be able to touch the specimens, then something very un-rocklike such as mesolite or native silver wire
• garnet crystal (if she can find one with crisp edges)
• Tiger's Eye or Hawk's Eye
• Fire agate
• something inexpensive like topaz that you could show both the crystal and faceted version together

[rockjunquie]

Must not forget some dino bone and coprolite. Kids love those!

[fernwood]

Hey thanks. I already had added a geode slice to the list. The specular hematite is shiny silver. My daughter bought a desert rose. I have some small slabs of dino bone.

Great suggestions everyone.

[fishnpinball]

Have sections for all 3 types of rock. Anything fossilized is a hit as well as neat colors and patterns or things that have shapes like Crystals or galena. Rocks from locales can be a theme as well as rocks with stories related to them.

[fernwood]

Further info. This will be an 8 x 10 shadow box. Cover could not easily be removed by a 6 year old. Top will be plexi-glass, just in case. Each specimen will be numbered and the description will be on the back.

Sent my daughter the final list, based on suggestions here and what I had selected. She appreciates everyone's help on this. I will add photos of finished product when it is done in a few weeks.

Thanks from my daughter and me.