Crafting with natural materials
Winter in Australia is brightened by our amazing range of flowering wattles. Kids (and adults!) just love making wattle crowns and bracelets, and it’s so easy to do. Just staple a strip of cardboard to make a crown or bracelet, and attach the wattle with sticky tape or staples. A beautiful winter nature craft!
The Golden Wattle, Acacia pycnantha, became the Australian floral emblem in 1988, and wattle appears on the Australian Coat of Arms.
A run of cold nights has brought out some brilliant autumn colour in my garden. My Japanese maple is looking spectacular, and the different shades inspired this pretty spiral. This type of nature craft, when laid out on the ground is sometimes called Land Art. It’s easy, satisfying, free and fun to do with kids!
Here’s a simple angel decoration to get your Christmas creativity started.
I’ve used a large gumnut for the body, with an acorn and cap for the head. Bow tie pasta is the perfect size and shape for wings.
Use a low-melt glue gun to glue it all together, and add a dash of gold paint for some sparkle! Glue a loop of thread on the back if you’d like to hang it. Voila!
Encourage children to pick some flowers and leaves and arrange them on the ground to create their own unique little character.
Explain that sometimes the most beautiful things aren’t permanent, eg. flowers and sunsets, but if we want to, we can capture them with photographs.
Sometimes called ephemeral art, this style of using natural materials has been used by famous British artist and sculptor Andy Goldsworthy.
Oak trees are found in cities around the world, and acorns have been used by crafters in all sorts of ways for centuries. Young kids love collecting acorns, and nature crafts are a great use for them! Make a nature craft mouse like this or some other little creature.
I’ve used a low melt glue gun to glue on pistachio kernels for the ears and plastic eyes. Alternatively, you could use acorn caps as the ears, or even small leaves. Vine tendrils form a perfect tail. Head outside, collect some acorns and make a whole colony!