Art Activity: Nature Ornaments

What: Create ornaments using a selection of natural materials
How:

• Go into the woods and spend some time finding cool things
• Bring them back to your home/studio/classroom
• Provide a selection of natural materials and various kinds of glue and scissors

Why:  Recycled materials, whether natural or not, are one of the most freeing things to work with.  It’s because they are already broken/it’s okay to break them which means that students aren’t scared of the perfect white surfaces.  Instead, they can dive right into and just continue breaking, tearing, glueing back together, and generally creating.

The fun part of specifically creating creatures out of natural supplies is that so many things in nature remind us of other things in nature.  Seeds look like eyes, leaves look like wings, the list goes on and on.  The images are readily apparent for anyone to draw from.

Last, but not least, students can learn to recognize pieces of nature while making art.  This cross-over helps create a strong interdisciplinary connection for kids (and adults!) who might have otherwise clung to either art or nature, not realizing how strongly they are intertwined.