Nature Art - Fun Stuff to do!

YOUR DOSE OF FUN & GAMES!  
Nature Art
Hey kids, this week we're making some cool nature art using charcoal or other alternatives! Leaves, seeds and bark all have amazing patterns unique to that species. Let's look closely and see what we can discover! 

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
 
- Paper - Thinner paper like tracing paper is the best but all paper will work well 
 
- Charcoal, Pencils or Crayons - Charcoal is fun to use and experiment with, you can use charcoal sticks or briquettes normally used for a bbq. Crayons and pencils work equally as well and if you have different colours you can experiment with multicolour leaf patterns! 
 
- A Hard surface

- Leaves, Seeds or Tree Bark - Ideally fallen leaves but you can also take clippings from trees with permission. Look for leaves and bark where you can feel the texture and veins poking out, this will show through best on the paper. Look around and see what you can find! Seeds like the Spinning Sycamore helicopters would be fun to use if you can find them!

 
WHAT TO DO:

- Find a hard surface to use. If you are using something messy like charcoal then its best to put something down on the surface like newspaper so its easy to clean afterwards and protects the table! 

- Place your leaf of choice on the surface and place your paper on top of the leaf. 

- Now rub your charcoal or crayons over the paper applying pressure and the leaf pattern will start to show through! 

- If you want to make some bark rubbings you can place your paper over the bark on a tree and rub the charcoal or crayons over it to show all the neat patterns.

- Experiment with all sorts of nature art! Which leafs show through the best? Which bark creates the an interesting pattern? Make sure to send us any pictures to share!