Mother's photo of what she found in her four-year-old's pocket goes viral

The collection includes treasures carefully chosen and pocketed by her son

(Getty Images)

A mother’s photo displaying the contents of her four-year-old’s coat pocket has gone viral for a heartwarming reason.

Katie Munnik, a writer from Cardiff, was getting ready to wash her son’s winter coat when she found a collection of keepsakes in one of his pockets.

Emptying the contents onto a table, she couldn’t resist capturing the assortment of treasures he had collected and shared the photo on Twitter.

The flat-lay image showed everything from a toy snake and a crumpled up Pokemon card to a plastic bottle top and an assortment of twigs.

He had also saved four pence in two 2p coins, a pinecone, a dried satsuma skin and two bits of bark.

“Found in the pockets of a four-year-old's winter coat before washing,” Munnik tweeted alongside the photo.

The heartwarming heap of everyday items clearly struck a chord with people as the image has since received 14,000 likes, 2,000 retweets and hundreds of comments.

“Good to see the proof of a child getting out into the wide world and not plonked in front of TV,” one person wrote.

“The world is there to find and discover. Great parenting.”

Another commented: “Kids are the best...they find the wonder in everyday things!”

Some even suggested that the mother should keep hold of the items and create a keepsake for when her son gets older.

“Perhaps your boy might enjoy making a nature table? Back in my teaching days, the pockets of many of my class would be full of such treasures being brought in for the nature table,” one person suggested.

Commenting on the reaction her tweet has received Munnik told The Independent: “It is so lovely how so many people have connected with this simple story. I've been absolutely overwhelmed at the response.

“The comments on Twitter and Facebook have been wonderful, funny, moving and beautiful.

“My four-year-old is just delighted that other people can see his very good collection of sticks. He said that he chooses them because they feel good to hold and are the right size for his pockets. What more could you look for in treasure?”

The viral post even inspired other parents to share images of what they found in their children’s pockets.

“Fir cones and stones…a firm favourite among four-year-olds” one mother commented alongside a photo that also included a small plastic toy, a shell and a preserved ladybird.

Another shared an image of what he had found inside his five-year-old child’s pocket including three coins, a collection of colourful stones, a boiled sweet and a metal hook.