Inside Outside Michiana: Nature Club: Environmental Art

While the theme for Nature Club was Environmental Art, I switched things up a little for the "older" crowd. We had rocks and water beads for patterns and even tried them out on the light table.

I wondered what the older children would think of the water beads--they were a hit! The kids started making their own designs with the different materials. I loved hearing the oohs and aahs as we looked at Andy Goldsworthy's environmental art. I love his book: Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature He does such neat things! Simple concepts, such as circles, color variations, etc., are used to make stunning natural images tweaked by man.

Outside, we each found "precious" items once again, making a connection with nature and being observant as we focus on nature around us. We used our frames to find pieces of art in the details of nature. These flowers actually were little pieces of art on their own--almost like little runways welcoming the pollinators. The petals fell from these other blossoms. As a whole, the tree was not looking as nice; however, the parts left behind were stunning. I need to work on my photography skills!

The each created nature faces with found elements and explained them to us. It was interesting to see the unique details, like "lipstick" and proportions in this age group. Toward the end, they started seeing what others were doing and used some ideas; however, I liked what I was seeing as they worked on their own. Still, each natural face was quite unique!

We explored rubbings, looking at colors from different natural colors. We were surprised with some of the rubbings as they didn't always match the color we saw on the petal or leaf.