Super excited Richard Louv reviewed our new book. Here are his thoughts:
“Nature nurtures creativity. Here’s a beautiful book that illuminates the crossroads of nature and art. It’s a wonderful toolkit for natural teachers and natural artists everywhere.” — Richard Louv, author of
“The Nature Principle” and “Last Child in the Woods”
Using this eBook will give you a special opportunity as an early childhood educator,
to nurture in children a deep love for and connection with Nature.
In this must-have 109-page eBook you will have access to full-colour, awe-inspiring photography alongside step-by-step instructions for 40 nature-based art activities.
- Using this book, you will learn how to carry out 40 simple nature-based arts and crafts
- By doing art and being active outdoors, children get the triple benefit of engaging with nature, being creative and getting physical activity
- You can open any page of this book and show it on a Smart Board or computer
- Utilizing this book, combined with a holistic approach, you will be able to nurture each child’s body, mind and spirit.
WIN A FREE COPY
Just leave a comment below telling us your favourite nature craft activity. Winner will be notified by email on 18th September. Good Luck!
In our classes over three years and this book which encapsulates our classes, we provide all three of the above, with lots of laughter and fun too! We are sincere, passionate, and holistic. We truly are child-centred. We believe in what we are doing. We know that our classes have touched the lives of the children who have participated in beautiful, meaningful ways.
FOREWORD by Thom Henley – author of “Rediscovery”
This delightful book with its artful layout and inspiring images offers a refreshing breeze. It encourages art, music, poetry and creativity as ways to open children’s imaginations to the infinite possibilities of nature. More importantly, it immerses children fully in nature so that it seeps into their being through every pore, every breath of fresh air and every magical moment where a boy or girl expresses their wonder and surprise with: “Wow!”
I once met an elementary school teacher who felt that written homework assignments were cruel and unusual punishment for children after a day locked up in the impoverished setting of a classroom. Instead her students had the simple after school assignment of spending enough time in nature that they had a “Wow!” moment that they could report back to their class on the following day. “There’s no way to fake a ‘Wow!’ moment”, the teacher told me; “it’s almost an involuntary reflex. Fellow students know immediately if someone is making up their story, so they must ring true.” What this innovative teacher had rediscovered was the powerful daily lessons nature has to offer – an experiential approach to learning that research proves far surpasses academic methods for understanding and long-term retention.
There is a no more formative age for instilling a deep love of the natural world than childhood and the authors of this book know that. Use this book for inspiration and expand on its ideas to create programs of your own. The key to success here is immersion. Get the kids outdoors with a little direction and watch their imaginations explode with possibilities.
“I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do, I touch, and I understand” – Native American saying
- Lesson plans for outdoor art classes using nature’s gifts.
- Hands-on, practical, simple ways to get kids outside and connect them with nature.
- You get to see children going home every day with beautiful arts and crafts they have created.
Doing the activities in this book with children helps to develop each child physically, emotionally and socially.
Multiple recent research studies have been done on children: examining children’s health, including physical and emotional, and exploring cognitive function and behavior. Many recent studies on the benefits of nature and on the benefits of having opportunities to be creative have been carried out also. All of this research has shown clearly, unambiguously and dramatically that:
1. Engaging in outdoor physical activity
2. Being connected with nature and
3. Having opportunities to be creative
Are hugely beneficial to children.
WIN A FREE COPY
Just leave a comment below telling us your favourite nature craft activity. Winner will be notified by email on 18th September. Good Luck!
Wishing you all a beautiful weekend in nature. Love and peace, Marghanita x
Richard Louv, Thom Henley, David Suzuki and Sir Ken Robinson to name but a few, have all been powerful role models and influenced the work I do today. Collectively we can make a difference: working together, we can change the way children spend their time.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR FAVOURITE NATURE CRAFTS WITH ME…what an absolute delight to read about them…..now for the Winner…..
by 
One of my favorite nature play memories from when I was little, was making a leaf crown from Maple leaves. I think I was more excited than my little boy, when I passed activity on to him (age five).
My favourite nature craft is one which is left in the forest when the children are done creating – fairy homes, aka fairy village, aka gnome homes. We only use things found on the forest floor. I’ve seen kids make swimming pools for the fairies, cabins, outdoor beds, outdoor kitchens, fairy gardens, and even a fairy zoo. One never knows the uniqueness of a child’s mind!
Wishing you great success with your book.
Hugs,
Haida
One of our favorite things to do in the woods is to create obstacle/ropes courses out of sticks and stumps and logs – it’s a great creative & physical game to play!
One of my favourite activities when I was a child was hunting for dragons and fairies. We were certain of their existence and spent many hours hunting for where they lived, what they ate and what they did during the day. We always found evidence that they were about, but never saw one, but that never upset us much. Now, my daughter and I share this activity and spend the most wonderful times immersed in nature. We’ve found dragon poo, fairy dust and sadly, one day, a fairy wing. I’ll be sure to let you know when we actually locate a magical creature! xx
My favorite is using 1/2 walnut shell to make a fairy bed or hammock, using lambs ear for a blanket and pussy willow for a pillow they can hang inside your fairy house. Love the imagination, its endless! Thank you for all your inspiration!
My daughter and I have shared a passion for waterfalls for quite sometime now. We hike to the bottom of a waterfall and fill up a glass bottle with the water. We then take it home and she draws or colors a label for it after which
We proudly display it. To day we have hiked some 40 different waterfalls thru out 6 states.
Our girls favorite nature activity is searching for fairy homes, they are constantly looking for them. They’ll point out “That must be a fairy house!” and run to the magical tree and place themselves under it’s leaves searching for those little fairies. Too Cute!
My kids are little (2 & 4) – their favorites have been painting rocks (and sometimes we leave them in fun places, especially if we glue ‘googly eyes’ to them). We also like making faces out of found objects in the middle of the trail (large leaf for the face, rocks for eyes, flower for a nose, stick for mouth etc.)
Today we painted sticks – simple and fun
I love being in nature with children. As an environmental educator I remember one of the first times I made “rock paint” with a group of city children. I took them down to the stream’s edge, found an orange hued sandstone rock from amongst the many polished stream pebbles. I rubbed and rubbed it with a harder piece of granite while 20 young eyes stared with fascination. I added drops of water as I went to make a small slurry of “paint”. While the children watched with speculation, I proceeded to decorate my face in front of them. The boys and girls that day erupted with excitement and disbelief that nature could make such colourful paint. They went on to make their own colours and each one shared what they had made. Some of the children didn’t want it on their faces or hands and so I provided paper and they made pictures with their paint and paint brush fingers. It was a glorious day of experimentation, wonderment and plain old fun in the sun. I have done this activity many times since and it always precipitates the same marvelous response regardless of the stream of choice.
Our family’s favorite nature craft is to make bird feeders out of pine cones. You take the pine cones and roll them in or spread them with peanut butter. Then you roll them in or sprinkle them with bird seed. To finish, just tie a piece of string to the top and hang them from a tree limb or wherever you want to see a bird. For nut allergies, you can use lard in place of peanut butter. You can also use oats or cereal instead of bird seed, if your little one is allergic to seeds.
My son when he was younger would make the tape bracelet to keep anything he found interesting. It’s not really a craft but we used to swing from the vines that would grown on my Grandpa’s farm.
My favorite nature craft is finding pinecones, acorns, grasses etc and creating animals, objects, or abstract shapes–no glue or tape, when we are done we return what we used back to nature.
Hi. Haven’t heard from you guys didn’t know how to contact you best. I ordered this book last week and paid via paypal. Just wanted to see if you got my followup email and when I might get my copy.
Congratulations Laura and thank you for sharing your magical story with us…..I will be sending your ebook over via email. Hope you enjoy reading. I know you will love doing the nature crafts with the children…..I would love to know what you think of it….love Marghanita xx
Hi Marghanita, your creative works and art is moving for me! Thanks!
Greetings from Italy!
Cristina……Gracias por sus palabras amables, le deseando un hermoso día en la naturaleza, adora Marghanita