1. You must first find a lockpick. You acquire the lockpick by building either a treehouse or a hut. In order to build either of those, use the hammer (gotten by combining a stick and a piece of iron), and build various buildings until you can build the treehouse or hut. Once you build the treehouse or hut, you automatically find a lockpick.
2. Search the outside edge of the island until you find a crate. It will be nestled among some large stones, near the water.
3. Open your inventory and put the lockpick in your hand.
4. Walk up to the crate and press "E" to "use" the crate.
5. A box will pop up that has a number in the center with left and right arrows on each side. You are trying to "pick the lock" on the crate in order to open it.
Now, this is the part that I personally found confusing, because there are NO instructions given in the game. You are just assumed to understand how the "lock picking system" works. Here's how the lock pick system works...
6. You are trying to get the number in the center of your screen to reach "9" by pressing the right and left arrow buttons in the pop-up box in the correct sequence. The sequence is this: L R L R R L L R L.
Ta-da! The crate is opened, and you can get what's inside. That's as far as I've gotten, so back to the game I go to continue the adventure! I hope that was helpful!