Summer Nature Looms

July 2013: Earlier in the school year we made simple looms that the girls used with ribbons to do a little weaving practice. (We made these using only Dollar Tree materials, btw. $3.00 total) When we finally got some lovely things growing outside in abundance we went out with our bags and did a little nature collecting. Bringing back our flowers, grasses, weeds, seeds etc. we sat outside and gently wove all of these things into a really beautiful nature display. Both girls needed a bit of help doing this without destroying the more delicate specimens but we all enjoyed doing this activity together. We hung these outside and watched them change as they dried in the sun.

Summer Nature Collecting and Collages

 May 2013: We ventured outside one sunny morning to do a little nature collecting. We returned with our findings and used them to make a nature collage on bright yellow paper. I originally wanted the girls to think a bit more "outside the box" and use the flowers, leaves etc. to create a different image such as a face or an animal, but they wanted to use them to create a nature scene--pretty much a replica of right where we collected them. But in the end I think they turned out really well and they had fun imagining all of these separate plants growing together as one new plant. So, not exactly what I had in mind but they really loved collecting and creating with the natural materials which was the goal anyways.