The Magic of Nature Art
Nature is full of inspiration for games, art and craft.
When my sons were small we’d make pictures out of leaves – I seem to remember a particularly good autumnal Dalek! We fashioned mermaids at the beach out of seaweed and stones. We decorated sticks to make wands.
Wherever you look whether it’s in a wood, on the coast, up a mountain or in the bustle of a city, you can usually find nature madly waving in our direction, excited for us to stop long enough and engage. And the more we do the more inspiration blooms.
I’ve been very inspired by lots of artists while writing The Wood Where Stories Sing.
I particularly love the petal art created by Hannah Bullen-Ryner. Seeing her wonderful creations I knew that I wanted the children to make their own butterflies, birds and in Cal’s case an auroch!
In my story, the children create their own woodland warriors to help protect Wildtop Wood and so leaping into their games come Pintle Pine (a happy flappy pine cone), Mossie (a catapult-wielding moss creature) and Twigly (a knobbly, slightly wobbly, but ever so determined stick).
And then of course there is Crest, the driftwood horse made by Sylvie, inspired by the incredible horses created by Heather Jansch.
I really hope that this story will encourage children to play in nature, to create art from the gifts it bestows and maybe even grow stories of their own.
Books to inspire Exploring Nature
Here are a few of my favourite books to spark some fun ways to explore nature, whether it’s creating art or games and activities, there’s plenty of scope to get creative outdoors.
The Big Book of Nature Art by Yuval Zommer
This is a giant book bursting with ideas and visually stunning! Yuval begins by saying ‘Every child is a nature artist!’ and I couldn’t agree more.
He has pages of fun ideas, with easy to follow instructions and hugely appealing illustrations. From leaf bugs to barking bats, kids are sure to enjoy creating their own characters.
Wild Child written by Dara McAnulty illustrated by Barry Falls
‘Let me take you on a journey. A wild wandering.’
A really fun and engaging book to help you explore habitats. I love the mix of prose, facts and activities in this book. And it’s wonderfully illustrated by Barry Falls.
For grown ups:
Rewilding Children’s Imaginations: 99 Creative Activities Inspired by Nature and Folktales from Around the World by Pia Jones, Tamsin Cooke and Sarah Pimenta
A really interesting book for anyone, but especially teachers, outdoor practitioners, therapists, parents and carers.
It highlights the importance of engaging with the natural world and explores oral story telling as well as being packed with activities and ideas to inspire artwork and creativity.
Thank you to Andy for visiting our blog this week to tell us more about finding inspiration in nature art. The Wood Where Stories Sing is available to purchase from Amazon or Bookshop and also as an audiobook.
Readers may also be interested in the following booklists:
- Children’s Books about Plants & Trees
- Growing Plants Children’s Booklist
- Forest School books for children
- Year 3 Booklist
- Recommended Storytime Chapter Books
Browse our curriculum topic booklists for more.
Where next?
> Visit our Reading for Pleasure Hub
> Browse our Topic Booklists
> View our printable year group booklists.
> See our Books of the Month.