Collectors' Corner

Open for traders of all ages

The world around us is full of wonder. Flipping over a rock can reveal scurrying pill bugs. Exploring your backyard might reveal a new plant you’ve never noticed before. Heading outdoors and observing the environment opens up our minds to new ideas and encourages us to think like scientists do! 

At the Collectors’ Corner, traders of all ages can bring in the objects they find outdoors. Your trade could be a special rock or crystal, bones from an already-dead animal, leaves or petals, or some other natural object. The more you know about it, the more points you get in return. Those points can be used to trade for objects you can bring home and keep!

A museum visitor holding their baby in the Collectors' Corner and a museum staff member shows them a preserved crocodile head.

Connect science with community


Collecting objects outdoors is useful for more than just trading. Find out how your finds can contribute to big research projects through community science.

Explore more science


You can discover, evaluate, and learn more about nature wherever you are. Dig into stories and activities that will inspire you to keep thinking like a scientist.

Close-up of rock specimens.