SEED
PRINTS CLAY SEED POTS SUN PRINTS
BUBBLE CREATIONS PAINTED SNAKES
FOOTPRINTS SEEDWHEELS
SANDSCAPES SEASHELL SANDPRINTS
SUN CATCHERS WATERCOLOR FLOWERS ROLLING RIVER BOOKS MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
MASK CREATIONS PLANT DYES
PATTERNS IN NATURE
MOBILE ART LEAF AND TRUNK RUBBINGS MAGICAL GOO SHADOW DRAWING RAINBOW BRACELETS WATER
CYCLE BRACELETS MAKING PAPER WINDSOCKS CONSTELLATION VIEWERS
RAIN STICKS
Sun Prints - You need to have sunprint
paper. Kids cam print almost anything on this paper. They can print one leaf or if you collect a variety of leaf shapes they
can make figures or a pattern. In order to keep the leaves in place for exposing to the sun I give them a page from a photo
album to put it in. Use the kind of page that has a full cover that you press down over everything. This works great with
young children. They expose their picture to the sun for a few minutes until it turns white and then take it inside and rinse
it in water and let dry.
Seed Prints
- They are fun to make and allow kids to
examine different kinds of seeds. Give students a piece of clay and ask them to roll it into a ball. This can be
difficult for young children, but good exercise. They flatten it with the palm of the hand and carefully push the seed into
the clay. They use toothpicks to lift the seed out. If given a larger piece of clay, kids can print one large seed
in the center (peach) and print a border with smaller seeds. Sand clay is easier and cheaper and it doesn't need
to be fired. Real clay comes out more detailed and after fired, kids can paint them. Punch a small angled hole in the back
for hanging on a nail or a hole through the top to hang from a string.
Clay Seed Pots
- Theses are small little pots made from
pinching the clay or coiling. Kids can paint them after they are fired and use them for the seeds they collect.
Painted Snakes - Curly willow branches are great for
this. Have posters and pictures of snakes and after a program on reptiles the kids paint the curly willow branches with
tempera paint and glue a red felt split tongue at the mouth.
.
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Leaf rubbings are lots of fun for kids. They can go for a walk and collect leaves of
different shapes, identify the plant and type of leaf. You can do them easily on almost any kind of paper and crayons work
great with the papers removed. Place the leaf veins up under the paper, hold the paper tight at the bottom so it doesn't
slip and rub from the bottom out making sure to rub the entire leaf. Green is great for spring rubbings and in the fall I
give them fall colors. If they are researchers they can actually rub the leaf in the color that fits the plant in the fall
- and it may be several colors too!
Bubble Prints - Kids
love this! You can use tempera, acrylic paint or india ink in the bubble mixture depending on the class of children. They
can print one color or several. I usually put a little science into it and discuss what soap is made of and the structure
of bubbles.
Rainsticks - I
figured an easier way to make these. I cut large pieces of dried bamboo leaving one end open and the other closed. Sand
the outside. Cut a piece of chicken wire a little less than the length of the bamboo stick and about 6 inches widw. Roll the
chicken wire up and slide it inside the bamboo stick. Put about 1/2 cup of rice inside and seal it by glueing a tree cookie
on the end. The tree cookies are slices of a tree branch. The kids can paint them at any time.
Footprints - Kids make these prints the same way they make the seed
prints using clay but we use the animal track reproductions for these. I order them from Nature Watch. Individual tracks run
$9.95 each or a set of 16 different tracks for $149.20 - # 205zwww.nature-watch.com
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