Andrea Mulder-Slater: The Art of Childhood

Aug
13
2015

5 Fun Nature-Based Art Activities

Kids can get creative outside with dirt, sand, sticks and stones

Get your crafty kids outside!

When the weather outside is delightful, it's no time to craft inside.

Instead, invite (or shove) your kids out the door and encourage them to get creative with natural - readily available - materials.

Here are five ideas to get you (and them) started.

STICK SCULPTURE

Sticks, fallen leaves, wildflowers, stones, grass and the odd found object (in our case, a scrap piece of wood left over from a construction project), can be combined to make fabulous temporary sculptures on the lawn.

Kids can make nature art with sticks

Kids can make nature art with sticks

Kids can make nature art with sticks

SAND MOSAICS

All you need to make these cool creations is a cookie tray, some sand and a few found objects like seashells, pebbles, and dried beans and lentils. The beauty of these mosaics is - because they are temporary - kids can make them over and over (and over) again.

Kids can make temporary mosaics with sand.

Kids can make temporary mosaics with sand.

ROCK ART

Making sculptures out of rocks is all about balance. Simply grab some rocks, stones and pebbles and see what develops.

Kids can make sculptures with stones at the beach.

Kids can make sculptures with stones at the beach.

STONE DRAWING

Left to their own devices, kids will sooner or later figure out that rocks can make marks on other rocks. Encourage them to experiment to see which stones create the best colours.

Drawing with rocks.

DIRT PAINTING

You don't need a lot of supplies to paint with dirt (just add water), but if your kids are looking for something a little more colourful, you can add a little bit of water-based paint or food colouring into the mix.

Just add water to dirt for a terrific natural paint.

Just add water to dirt for a terrific natural paint.

Add paint to dirt and water for a delightfully textured masterpiece.

Ready, set... now get outside!

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