Nature art – Kids Discover Nature

Involve Nature in Holiday Preparations

by Jodi Valenta

Wreath-making is a great way to encourage a connection to nature during the winter.

It is so much more difficult to encourage kids to go outside when it’s cold! Lately, my daughter always says “no” when I ask “do you want to go outside?” My son, who has become the poster toddler for the “terrible two’s” refuses to take one step into the snow. I really can’t blame him. For someone with very little experience with the cold, wet and (now) crunchy stuff, it is hard to deal with. He wants me to carry him everywhere we walk in the yard. This doesn’t go over well with me, so he stands on the deck and watches us while complaining the entire time. I just chuckle to myself knowing that next year, I won’t be able to pull him away.

Last weekend, determined to get my daughter outside and helping to prepare for Christmas, I encouraged her to help me make the wreath for the front door. We walked around the yard
collecting natural items that could be used to augment the plain balsam wreath I already had on the door. Without knowing what to expect, we liked how it turned out! We used clippings from a white pine, a beech tree and a viburnum bush. Then we added a few branches that had red berries and a little artificial cardinal I had in our Christmas decorations.
Here’s the result of our creation:

If you would like to make a wreath for your door, you will need the following materials:

One 22″ wreath (you can buy it a the local garden center)
Sharp scissors to use for clipping
Clippings from your yard – use your imagination! You can collect anything such as bare or pine branches, even branches with dried leaves or berries, feathers (washed and disinfected), leaves from evergreen vines, trees and bushes, pine cones or anything that looks pretty or interesting.
Green craft wire
Ribbon to make a bow

Once you have everything collected, bring it inside and arrange it all on a large table or work area. Begin placing the clippings in the wreath by pushing them one-by-one into the wire that was used to hold together the wreath. Arrange the clippings any way you find appealing. For pine cones and the like you will need to use the craft wire to attach them to the wreath. You can either wrap the wire around the item and wire it to the wreath, or drill holes into the item (such as acorns) and go from there. Finally, add the finishing touch by adding a bow using the craft wire.

You will find that you enjoy this project. You might even finding yourself signing carols! During this time of hustle and bustle, it really helped me get into the holiday spirit. As for my daughter, she feels proud that the wreath on our front door was created with her help and your children will, too.

Lastly, to all my readers, thank you for your support!! I really enjoyed writing for you this year. As you know, I only do this part time (and often only when I have some spare time), and I thank you for continuing to follow my blog even during the slow periods. I am planning some great new features for 2010, so please stay tuned. I wish you all the best for a wonderful and happy holiday season. I also pass on to you a nice verse in a card I received from friends which says,

May we live peacefully

with one another and

in harmony with the earth.

Nature Activities for Kids

Falling for Fall

by MCC

How to capture the joy of this favorite season with your kids

Ahh the sights, sounds, and scents of Fall. All around creatures are going into hibernation mode. Sometimes wouldn’t it be great to head south along with the birds! Speaking of migration, now is the time that you can point out flocks of birds migrating to your kids. We recently had huge flock of Blackbirds pass through our neighborhood, as they do every year. It’s really neat to watch hundreds of birds foraging together in the leaves and grass. When they fly they are huge mass blackness against the blue sky.

Around this time, we also watch for the Northern Juncos to arrive here yet from Canada. Now that the wind has turned brisk and cold, we expect them any day now.

You and your kids can watch the winter preparations going on around you, too. You can point out he squirrels and chipmunks foraging for food. Talk about what tress lose their leaves first and last. Often its the maples, birch, tulip and sassafras trees followed by the oak trees. You can easily spend and entire afternoon identifying leaves you all find. Another idea is to race acorns down a hill to see which one wins.

You know those rocks that kids often collect and are found alll over the house! Now is the time to convert to items found around the yard or in the neighborhood park. All kids enjoy collecting things and collections are especially handy to help them learn sorting , counting, comparing and contrasting.

Here are some tips on having fun with collections during Fall:

Ask you children to find a boxes, jars or plastic containers from your recyclables bin. They can paint or decorate them prior to heading outside.
Once outside look for items on the ground. You can look for items in several categories.
- Seeds – Maple “helicopter” seeds, acorns, hazelnuts, rose hips, various cones, chestnuts, berries
- Leaves of all varieties and colors
- Twigs and branches
- Spent fern and flower fronds

Warning: Do not let your children collect fungi or berries that could be poisonous. If there is any question in your mind a “no touch” policy is best.

3. Spread all the items they have found out onto the lawn and have them sort them by color, type, size, etc.
4. Use use the items to make fun things like masks, decorative hats, mobile and much more.

Once your child is fisnihed, ask him or her to put all the items into the various containers lable them and organize them on a shelf them inside. This is the perfect was to always have items to use in artwork or creations throughout the winter! The bonus is that they are natural and totally free!

There are so many fun activities to do in the fall! Check back next week for more fun activity ideas.

Nature Activities for Kids

Bring the Outside In

by Jodi Valenta

There are those days when going outside to play just isn’t in the cards. That has been the case for my children these past few days. My daughter is recovering from a stomach bug and it is just too darn cold for my son to be outside. When the temps are in the single digits and the wind chill is fierce, his little fingers become icicles in a matter of minutes. Needless to say, we are are going a little stir crazy and could use a breath of fresh air.

In my quest to connect my children with nature, I was thinking about how I can bring the outside inside on days like this. So, I went to the cupboard and rooted around for all the collections of various natural materials we stored in boxes after the summer and fall. At the time, I was tired of picking them up of the floor and finding them hidden all over the house. Now, I was relieved to see our stone and shell collections as well as the acorns, leaves and sticks we stored in boxes. I knew an art project using these items would keep them busy for a while.

I covered the kitchen table with newsprint and combined the natural materials along with the art supplies we have on hand such as contruction paper, paint, markers, glitter, pom-poms, cotton balls, popsicle sticks, paste and old buttons. Without providing much direction, I told my kids to create something using the materials we collected. I winced, waiting for the complaints about how “boring” my idea was and all the excuses about why they should watch a movie instead. When I opened my eyes, they were both busily working on their masterpieces. “Wow, I thought, “this nature thing works inside too.”

Thirty minutes later…no I am not kidding — an entire 30 minutes…. they were still enjoying the activity and created beautiful works of art that are now adorning our refrigerator.

No doubt, the winter weather makes it challenging to keep kids connected to nature. It is much easier to connect them to the TV or computer. As I look ahead at the cold months that lay before us, I think about how I am going to do it. You are probably thinking the same thing. Well, I am here to offer help. My plan is to try to get them outside for at least 20-minutes on the more mild days, which I consider 25 dregrees and up (and includes buddling up in layers and snowsuits). On the bitter cold days, when it is too cold to go out, we will have to connect with nature in different ways. No doubt it’s going to take some creativity to do it. My formula will be to combine trips to the local nature center (we have a terrific one close by that has many great indoor activities) with reading books, going for drives and doing many, many art projects!

I invite you to join me as I attempt to overcome the overuse of electonic media to entertain my children during the winter months. I have many great ideas for indoor and outdoor activities. I would also like to hear your ideas, so please share!

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Involve Nature in Holiday Preparations

Wreath-making is a great way to encourage a connection to nature during the winter.

Falling for Fall

How to capture the joy of this favorite season with your kids

Bring the Outside In

Take the 30-Day Outdoor Challenge