I've always seen it as really important for children to see beauty in what is around them and to appreciate nature. It's something I always try to instill in Tommy and I will aim to do the same with Isla. Life is usually ridiculously busy, with little time to stop and look at what is around where you live or work. Children are constantly surrounded by toys and technology and it's nice to get away from this now and again, to experience some quiet time, to appreciate the environment and reflect on how lucky we are to live where we live. I definitely want our children to value and appreciate everything, particularly the things in life that are 'free' rather than commodities. I want them to get as much (or perhaps more) out of a walk on the beach or in the woods as they would do if we were to take them to Alton Towers. If we 'sell' these things as exciting, they will see them as such.
With this in mind, I wanted to create something that was a reflection of everything that was going on in the environment around us, something that would draw attention to the changes that had been happening as we had entered the season of Spring. We decided on a walk to collect 'evidence' of Spring - buds, blooms, different colours, blossom, leaves, greenery, anything really that suggested growth or new life. We found a large bucket and took it on a local walk around the village, through the park and the woods to collect our materials. There were no rules as to what went in the bucket, as long as it wasn't picked or pulled off a plant/tree. It's been extremely windy here over the last few weeks, so it just wasn't necessary to resort to picking flowers. We did take a few petals or flowers off the plants in our own garden though.
I didn't imagine this walk would be quite the hit it turned out to be. I encouraged Tommy to find as many different colours as he possibly could because our aim was to create a beautiful, colourful piece of art, and it was a challenge he couldn't resist. I also encouraged him to try and find a range of different kinds of materials, from spiky ones to smooth ones, from large-flowered ones to small-flowered ones, from fern-like leaves to broad ones and this really motivated him. We talked about the different plant names as we came across them and I was surprised to learn how much Tommy knew already.
Once we had collected a variety of leaves, flowers, blossom and petals, we returned home and then looked for ideas as to what to do with them. On Pinterest, I stumbled upon the idea of producing a 3D suncatcher. It was the perfect idea for making a piece of art out of our natural materials so we set about making it immediately.
To make it, you need a small cardboard box, some sticky-backed plastic, a collection of natural materials and some paint (optional). The box needs to be quite strong if you intend to paint it like we did.
First of all, we cut an aperture out of each side of our suncatcher, leaving a centimetre border around the edges. We cut the top off the box and then painted it white to make it look a little more attractive. The next step was to stick the sticky-backed plastic, with the sticky side facing outwards, onto the inside of the box's sides. Then Tommy carefully placed his leaves and flowers onto the sticky-backed plastic. Some of the leaves/flowers stuck better than others. The best tip I can offer is that the smaller they are, the better they will stick to the plastic. Try to create interest by sticking a variety of plants onto each side. To finish the suncatcher off, you could then cover each side with a further piece of sticky-backed plastic, to sandwich in your flowers/plants and stop them from dropping off. We didn't bother with this step, as I felt it looked just right as it was.
I'm so pleased with how this project turned out. The suncatcher is just so beautiful - it captures the sunlight so wonderfully and looks as though every single tiny piece was carefully and perfectly-placed, even though in reality it was just whacked on! I love how very different it looks from each side.
I know it won't last very long unfortunately, as the flowers will die quickly; I don't know if you could get around this by drying and pressing the flowers beforehand. But I shall enjoy having it on our windowsill in the meantime!
With this in mind, I wanted to create something that was a reflection of everything that was going on in the environment around us, something that would draw attention to the changes that had been happening as we had entered the season of Spring. We decided on a walk to collect 'evidence' of Spring - buds, blooms, different colours, blossom, leaves, greenery, anything really that suggested growth or new life. We found a large bucket and took it on a local walk around the village, through the park and the woods to collect our materials. There were no rules as to what went in the bucket, as long as it wasn't picked or pulled off a plant/tree. It's been extremely windy here over the last few weeks, so it just wasn't necessary to resort to picking flowers. We did take a few petals or flowers off the plants in our own garden though.
I didn't imagine this walk would be quite the hit it turned out to be. I encouraged Tommy to find as many different colours as he possibly could because our aim was to create a beautiful, colourful piece of art, and it was a challenge he couldn't resist. I also encouraged him to try and find a range of different kinds of materials, from spiky ones to smooth ones, from large-flowered ones to small-flowered ones, from fern-like leaves to broad ones and this really motivated him. We talked about the different plant names as we came across them and I was surprised to learn how much Tommy knew already.
Once we had collected a variety of leaves, flowers, blossom and petals, we returned home and then looked for ideas as to what to do with them. On Pinterest, I stumbled upon the idea of producing a 3D suncatcher. It was the perfect idea for making a piece of art out of our natural materials so we set about making it immediately.
To make it, you need a small cardboard box, some sticky-backed plastic, a collection of natural materials and some paint (optional). The box needs to be quite strong if you intend to paint it like we did.
First of all, we cut an aperture out of each side of our suncatcher, leaving a centimetre border around the edges. We cut the top off the box and then painted it white to make it look a little more attractive. The next step was to stick the sticky-backed plastic, with the sticky side facing outwards, onto the inside of the box's sides. Then Tommy carefully placed his leaves and flowers onto the sticky-backed plastic. Some of the leaves/flowers stuck better than others. The best tip I can offer is that the smaller they are, the better they will stick to the plastic. Try to create interest by sticking a variety of plants onto each side. To finish the suncatcher off, you could then cover each side with a further piece of sticky-backed plastic, to sandwich in your flowers/plants and stop them from dropping off. We didn't bother with this step, as I felt it looked just right as it was.
I'm so pleased with how this project turned out. The suncatcher is just so beautiful - it captures the sunlight so wonderfully and looks as though every single tiny piece was carefully and perfectly-placed, even though in reality it was just whacked on! I love how very different it looks from each side.
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