Art Project: Sculptures from Clay and found Nature Material

Working with clay is a tactile experience that seems to be an essential part of a child's development. Making sculptures out of clay and found objects from nature is a great way to offer open-ended play and encourage creativity. This project also allow, for easy set-up in the art room,  is cost effective, and is also wildly popular with children. They work for an art class setting, the Godly Play classroom, and at home.

All you need is:

- clay (I use the air drying variety)

-  glue

- a few objects from nature, such as leaves, sticks, rocks, moss, etc.

- a little imagination (and children have no lack this!)

Sometimes we go to the park and find the nature treasures ourselves  . . . 

And other times I bring nature material and set it out on a tray to save time . . . 

The children then begin to sculpt, and usually one does not have to give them any suggestions of what to make. They flow with their imaginations and come up with the most amazing things. Sometimes, at Easter I add eggshells or cress seeds to the mix, as in the picture below.

It is important to have glue available and show the children how to glue pieces together at the "joints", so that they do not fall apart when drying. In the picture below, we glued the figure's head to the body as well as the walnut and body to the bark. 

Isn't it amazing what children come up with to create?

 . . . 

Ein lieblings und einfaches Kunstproject von mir besteht daraus, Skulpturen aus Ton und Naturmaterial zu gestalten. Man braucht dafür nur den Ton, Naturmaterial und Kleber. Die Kinder denken dann super kreative Sachen aus. 

Manchmal gehen wir draußen und sammeln die Naturschätze selber und manchmal bringe ich sie um Zeit zu sparen. Wichtig ist den Kindern zu zeigen, an welchen Stellen den Bastelleim benutzt werden soll, damit nichts beim Austrocknen kaputt geht. 

Die Ergebnisse sind echt wunderschön!


Linked to Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions

and Eco Kids' Tuesday at Like Mama-Like Daughter and Organic Aspirations

and Waldorf Wednesday at Seasons of Joy

Winterwald / Winter Forest

Während der Winterferien von der Schule machten wir einen Ausflug in dem beliebten Grünewald. Ich gehe gern zu jeder Jahreszeit in den selben Ort hin, damit die Kinder den Vergleich haben, wie anders der Wald aussehen kann.  During the winter holidays from school, we visited our favorite forest, the Grünewald. I love going to this same place in each season so that the kids really notice the differences in the way the forest looks. 

Wir üben für den Zirkus!
Practicing our balancing act. 

Die Waldfeen bräuchten ein Häuschen . . .
The fairies needed a house . . . 

Und wir auch . . .
And so did we . . . 

Zum Glück gab's unheimlich viel Äste am Boden.
Fortunately, there were lots of branches lying around!

Und Voila, unser Häuschen! Wenn es ein Sturm gäbe,
weiss ich nicht . . . aber es hat Spass gemacht.
 And voila, our little house!
I'm not so sure how it would stand up
to the Big, Bad Wolf, but it sure was fun.

Und mit Leckerei für die Vogel ist alles perfekt geworden.
The final touch: adding a bird feeder.

Beim Spielen auf einem erfrorenen Teich.
Es hat uns inspiriert am nächsten Tag
Schlittschuhlaufen zu fahren.
Playing on a frozen pond.
This inspired us to go ice skating the day after!

Versteck in Sumpfplanzen.
Hide-and-seek among the pond foliage.

Die beliebte Kiesgrube.
Auch der Sand ist im Winter ganz anders.
Our beloved Kiesgrube ("Sand pit").
Even the sand has a different texture in winter.

Drei Stunden in der Kälte macht hungrig! Wir haben uns danach über die deutsche Küche gefreut: Schnitzel, Königsberger Klopse, und gebratene Ente mit Rotkohl.: )

After three hours in the cold we were starving!  Fortunately, there was a restaurant 

just outside of the forest with some of our favorite winter dishes: Schnitzel, Königsberger Klopse (meatballs in a cream sauce with capers on top of mashed potatoes) and baked duck with red cabbage. Gotta love living in Germany on days like this!

linked to The Magic Onions

Winter Nature Table

 . . . with a Candlemas theme

On Candlemas (February 2) we remember the story of Baby Jesus being presented in the temple. We rejoice with Simeon and Anna that God's gift to the world has come, and that we, who might otherwise walk in darkness, have a Light. 

Beside Giotto's painting of Jesus' Presentation in the Temple are beeswax candles that my son made at school before Christmas.

Baby Jesus has moved from the Nature Nativity to a bed of soft snow with a path leading to the forest. My son's favorite whittling stick turns into a tree adorned with snow-covered pine cones recycled from our Advent candles.

Our Christ Candle is surrounded by acorns that we found on our recent trip to Georgia (a type of acorn that we haven't seen here) where winter looks and feels much different than it does in Germany.

Lord, 

You are the fullness of life, of holiness, of joy.

Fill our days and nights with the love of your wisdom,

that we may bear fruit in the beauty of your holiness,

like a tree watered by running streams.








Linked to The Magic Onions

and Natural Suburbia

and Sharing Saturday at Crafty Moms Share and Mama Mia's Heart to Heart

and Raising Memories

and Monday Madness at Art 4 Little Hands and Let Kids Create

Nature Nativity

This is another lovely project that I learned from Birgit, the Waldorf educator at our kindergarten: a nativity scene made with nature materials.

To begin you need the following materials: assorted treasures from your nearest park or forest (moss, sticks, chestnuts, rocks, tree bark, acorns, pine cones, fir tree branch, etc.); walnut shell halves, air-drying clay or plasticine, glue, terra cotta  saucer for a flowerpot, a small piece of material, a small piece of cotton, gold paper, and a candle.

Next, place the moss in the flowerpot saucer.

To make baby Jesus, wrap a tiny piece of cotton inside a small square of material. Then, tuck it inside a walnut shell half.  (Mine stayed in place without any glue.) Then, make a small head out of clay for baby Jesus.

To make a small stable, I used clay and glue to attach sticks to a piece of tree bark. Then, add other elements using the nature materials you have on hand, such as a pine cone or fir tree branch as  a tree. You can also cut a golden star out of paper to hang either on the tree or attach it to another stick.  To top it off, add a small candle.

Three and four year-olds generally need a lot of help from an adult to do this project, but older preschoolers and elementary age children can do it most of it by themselves. Such a simple, yet enchanting project!

I can't wait to see what the kids in the Advent Club do with this project!








Linked to Monday Madness at Let Kids Create and Art 4 Little Hands

The Magic Onions

Crafty Moms Share

Frontier Dreams


Raising Memories

Autumn Leaf Crown

Need a crown for your favorite elf?  This beautiful autumn leaf crown is the work of Birgit, a Waldorf-trained teacher at the Naturkindergarten (Nature Kindergarten) that my daughter attends. I watched her weave it the other day and then had to try it myself.  It was such a great idea that I just had to share it with you! Möchte dein lieblings Waldzwerg eine schöne Krone haben? Dies ist die wunderschöne Handarbeit von Birgit, eine Waldorf Pädagogin im Naturkindergarten, wo meine Tochter hingeht. Ich habe sie vor paar Tagen beobachtet als sie diese Krone zusammenbastelt hat. Danach musste ich selber probieren und mit euch teilen!

To make, gather any autumn leaves that have longer stems, such as maple leaves.  Pull the stems off. They will  be used as "thread" to hold the crown together.  Then, fold the bottom third of each leaf. Begin to put each leaf inside half of the folded one next to it. Use the stems to weave the leaves together.

So geht das: erstmal schöne Herbstblätter sammeln und die Stiele entfernen. Dann faltet man ungefähr den unteren Drittel von jedem Blatt und steckt die Hälfte jeden Blattes in das davor liegende Blatt. Zuletzt "näht" man die Blätter zusammen mit den entfernten Stielen.  

This will be the inside of the crown. You can see how the stems are threaded into the leaves.
Das ist die innere Seite der Krone. Man sieht wie die Blätter zusammen "genäht" sind.

The finished crown.
Die fertige Krone.

With a little practice, older children can make these themselves. Such a simple project, yet so striking! 

Mit Übung könnten ältere Kinder auch solche Kronen schaffen. So einfach, aber so eindrucksvoll! 

Linked to The Magic Onions

Linked to Monday Madness at Let Kids Create and Art 4 Little Hands