Nature Inspired Chandeliers
I am slightly obsessed with being outdoors and in nature. Now that the snow has melted and the sun is out again (at least for us here on the island!) the boys and I have enjoyed many sunny afternoons outside.
Due to the snow and wind that we had a couple weeks ago, there is still quite a bit of debris and branches here and there- my kind of inspiration! As we were riding bikes in the front yard, I spotted a beautiful large branch that had broken off from one of the trees. It reminded me of an elegant chandelier.
Next I knew, the boys and I began collecting any and as many items from the nature around us. Dandelions, pinecones, leaves- anything that was safe to pick up! (Keep an eye on your littles and make sure there is nothing poisonous around!)
It was close to dinner time, so we headed inside and laid out all of our nature findings on the table. This in itself is a fun activity to do. We waited until a couple days later (due to an awful flu the boys caught) and brought out our nature findings again.
I strung some wool (craft twine would work nicely too) onto the branch, allowing my son to choose the lengths and amount he wanted. Then I let him choose where he would like to place his nature items. You can do this one of two ways. You could simply tie them on or use a glue gun. I chose a glue gun - it's kind of like my duct tape for everything!
Depending on the age of your child you may need to do this step for them or carefully together. Once we had glued all of our nature findings onto the wool, our "chandelier" was complete! We hung it up on the ceiling of my boy's bedroom so they can look at it at bedtime.
I love any opportunity to bring nature into part of the play indoors. Be sure to ask lots of open-ended questions. With spring around the corner and Winter just wrapping up, this activity allows for so much organic learning!
Don't forget to comment below if you enjoyed this activity! What kind of questions did your children ask? What kind of items did they find?
Next I knew, the boys and I began collecting any and as many items from the nature around us. Dandelions, pinecones, leaves- anything that was safe to pick up! (Keep an eye on your littles and make sure there is nothing poisonous around!)
It was close to dinner time, so we headed inside and laid out all of our nature findings on the table. This in itself is a fun activity to do. We waited until a couple days later (due to an awful flu the boys caught) and brought out our nature findings again.
I strung some wool (craft twine would work nicely too) onto the branch, allowing my son to choose the lengths and amount he wanted. Then I let him choose where he would like to place his nature items. You can do this one of two ways. You could simply tie them on or use a glue gun. I chose a glue gun - it's kind of like my duct tape for everything!
Depending on the age of your child you may need to do this step for them or carefully together. Once we had glued all of our nature findings onto the wool, our "chandelier" was complete! We hung it up on the ceiling of my boy's bedroom so they can look at it at bedtime.
I love any opportunity to bring nature into part of the play indoors. Be sure to ask lots of open-ended questions. With spring around the corner and Winter just wrapping up, this activity allows for so much organic learning!
Don't forget to comment below if you enjoyed this activity! What kind of questions did your children ask? What kind of items did they find?
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