Nature Crafts – 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 Crafts

Spring Flower Power!

by Jodi Valenta

Spending a lot of time exploring outdoors is a top priority in our family. There is most definitely a correlation between how much time we spend outdoors and the behavior of my kids: more = better! Since spring has arrived, we have been outside every day smelling (and picking) dandelions, violets, daffodils, and all the wonderful flowers that are blooming. It has been so great to run around and stretch our legs. We have also spent loads of time just observing all that is sprouting and blooming going on around us.

Here’s a great activity for your little sprouts (as excerpted from the “First Nature Activity Book):
Pressing flowers is a simple and magical way of preserving beautiful flowers and leaves so they last forever. Flowers with flat faces are best such as pansies, primroses, and daisies. Pick flowers that are dry and press them right away so they maintain their color.

Equipment:
Scissors
Heavy books
White paper for blotting

1. Open the book. Cut out a piece of blotting paper about the same size as the open book you will use. Fold the paper in half then open it out.
2. Lay the blotting paper across the book. Arrange the flowers flat on the right half of the paper, leaving space between them.
3. Carefully fold the left side of the blotting paper over the flowers. Then close the book over the blotting paper.
4. Put some heavy books on top of the book to weigh it down. Leave the plants to dry for at least four weeks.

After four weeks, they can be glued into a nature diary, onto a card for Mom (an especially nice idea!), or a picture to hang in your child’s room. The nice thing is that you will have the flowers to enjoy long after they have finished blooming outside.

Nature Crafts

Fairies and Elves in the Yard

by Jodi Valenta

A favorite childhood fantasy right in your own backyard

You can inspire your child’s imagination in your own backyard and connect them to nature at the same time! Children enjoy stories about fairies and elves and creating a home for them utilizing natural materials is a fun way to keep them busy and allow their imagination to bloom!

Making Elf and Fairy Houses
You can make them anywhere using materials you find in the yard or in a park. Ideas are fallen leaves, fruit, bark, seeds, nuts, sticks, moss, stones or anything your children find interesting. Follow these steps to help your child create on on his or her own.

Find an appropriate spot to build the houses such as between the roots of a tree, beside a log, among a pile a stones or beside a boulder. Allow your child to choose a spoton their own.
Allow your child to arrange the materials into a house they envision in their imagination.
You can help them add walkways, windows, fencing, doors, and a even a garden.
As children search and play they will become familiar with the natural materials and develop an awareness of the never-ending process of growth and decay as they find rotting leaves or chewed nuts.
Allow them plenty of time to create whatever they want.
Choose somewhere they can return to easily. Their play can be ongoing over time and they may create an entire village.
Try visiting different environments where they can collect different types of materials.
Make sure everyone washes their hands when finished!!

I introduced this activity to my children and my five-year old daughter was enthralled. She was so involved that she forgot to ask me to play tag or hide n’ seek, which is a daily favorite. My two-year-old son enjoyed copying my daughter and made little piles with his collected materials and he beamed with pride. We were outside until dusk and I had to drag them inside!

You can look forward to watching their little village grow over the next several weeks and then be buried under the first snowfall. It will be especially exciting to rediscover it next spring when it magically appears again after the snow melts.

You can end the day with a fun romp in the giant leaf pile. The perfect end to a perfect day outdoors.

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.

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Involve Nature in Holiday Preparations

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

Spring Flower Power!

Fairies and Elves in the Yard

A favorite childhood fantasy right in your own backyard

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