By Olivia Belk
LITTLE ELINA: It can be fun to see the designs and patterns different nature items make on a page. Today, let’s collect nature to use as paint brushes! Go outside, and gather anything you’d like to use as a brush. Some examples are leaves, grasses, pine needles, nuts, cones, flowers, and branches. Look at each of your items, and explore the texture, shape, and feel of each one. If you’d like, use rubber bands to attach each item to a stick. Then, get some paint, and use your collection instead of paint brushes. What designs do they make when you drag them across the paper? What if you roll a nut or cone across the page? Do different textures make different designs? Which is your favorite?
LITTLE NIS: Circles, squares, triangles, and more, there are plenty of shapes to explore! On your hike today, look for as many different shapes as you can. Every five minutes, start looking for a different shape. Start simple, with circles and squares, and move on to more difficult shapes, like stars and pyramids. It may help to print out pictures of different shapes before you go on your hike to give you ideas. You can also draw your own wacky shapes and see if you can find them. See who can find the most! Be sure to look at the big picture, like branches overhead and clouds above, as well as up close, like crossing blades of grass and insect tunnels in logs.
MAMA LOUMARI: One of our least used senses outdoors is our sense of touch. Let’s explore this sense outside today. In your backyard or on a nature walk, spend some time using your hands to explore. Some good things to touch are bark, leaves, stones, seeds, and dirt. Feel a few different things in each category. For each, try to answer these questions. Is it smooth, bumpy, or rough? Is it soft or hard? Dry or wet? Compare them to each other as well. Do all the leaves feel the same? What about the bark? Which was your favorite?