My kids had those when they were young,too. Once they left one of them in the sandbox & couldn't find it. We thought it was gone forever. Then the next spring it showed up next to out backdoor..about 60 ft from the sandbox. We have no idea where it spent the winter but it survived & we had it for quite a while after that. Don't forget that as they grow they will need to have a new & slightly bigger shell available to move into.