Crafting With Nature

Finding activities to keep the children entertained in the half term can be hard work ! Hopefully this nature crafts post will give you lots of inspiration and help keep your children happy and help you spend some quality time together.

As always at Gardening Love, I love to talk nature, and I truly believe in the health benefits that the great outdoors has to offer. Children thrive outside, running around, roaming free and exploring the environment. It helps them to excercise, get some much needed vitamin D and appreciate nature.

So I thought it would be a great idea to round up some ideas of nature crafts for you to try with the kids when your stuck for an activity.

So lets get started …….

We’re going on a bear nature hunt ! ?

It’s time to get outside and explore !

Wellies ….. check ✅

Backpacks ……. check ?

Beady eyes …….. check ?

It’s great if you have somewhere local you can escape to for a few hours. I am incredibly lucky to have the beautiful Yorkshire Sculpture Park just up the road. Cannon Hall Farm is just a few miles away from me, as is one of my children’s favourites, Newmillerdam country park. If that wasn’t enough, we also have Pugneys Water Park a short drive away.

Where ever you live, I’m sure you will have access to a nature spot. The woods or near by park, or even a walk around your local area, to encourage the children to explore their surroundings.

Gathering Nature Craft Materials

I always encourage my children to collect things that are loose. I don’t let them go around picking flowers that are growing, or pulling on tree branches to loosen leaves etc. Encouraging them to collect items that have already fallen so that they are not causing any damage.

Let the children collect what they are attracted to. Maybe you could get involved by helping them find materials and showing them things they might have missed.

On your nature hunt you will find an array of nature craft materials ! Encourage your children to use their imaginations, ask them what ideas they have ?

Try to get them to look for different coloured objects, help them to seek out different materials such a twigs, seeds, fallen leaves and flower heads. Items of different textures can be fun for them to craft with and a variety of sizes opens up the options to what they can make.

What did they find ?

Talk about the nature craft materials that they have found. Using their imaginations, what creative ideas do they have? What would they like to make ?

• Twigs

• leaves

• feathers

• acorns

• conkers

• flowers

• seeds

• grass

• pinecones

There will be many other items and materials, these are just a few common ones your children might find.

Ideas Of Nature Crafts To Try

Print Pictures

Use small paint trays filled with various coloured paints. Encourage your little ones to dip their chosen materials in the paint. Let them see what patterns they make. Can they use any of their findings as stamps ?

They could create pictures or using a large piece of paper, they could print their own wrapping paper for an upcoming special occasion.

Nature collage

They could create a picture using the items they have found. Children love to get gooey with glue. Sticking the items down to create a picture of what ever they choose. Let their imaginations run wild !

They could even make a nature picture. Sticking grass to the base of the picture and gluing twigs in place to represent trees. Recreating where they went on the nature hunt.

Nature mask

Help them cut a mask shape out of card, with eye holes. Let them decorate their mask with all their nature goodies. They could be a forest King or queen, maybe an animal of their choosing?

Glue twigs onto the side of the mask for them to use as handles to hold the mask in place !

Nature self portrait

Another great idea for nature crafts is to create a self portrait out of the materials they have collected. Sticking and gluing the materials to make eyes, noses and mouths . Feathers for hair perhaps ? And leaves for eyebrows ? Make one of yourself and save them for when they are older to look back on together.

Nature Magic Wands

Use any decent sized sticks or twigs they collected to make magic wands. They could decorate with paper, feathers, paint and string. There is no limit, only the imagination. Join in and make your own nature wand….let your inner child come out to play ….. you know you want to !

Leaf people

Using twigs for arms and legs, create a picture of a leaf person.  Add goggly eyes and a pipe cleaner mouth to give your leaf person character.

That should keep you all busy for a few hours ! Have fun and use your imagination.

Do you have any nature craft ideas you might like to share below ?

Happy crafting

Becky