MATERIALS:
Paper, crayons or pastels.
TIME FRAME:
15 – 60 minutes
PROCEDURE:
- Take a step outside and begin exploring the trees around your home.
- One tree at a time, gently place your piece of paper on its trunk and rub the side of your crayon or your pastels gently over the paper.
- Notice that the texture of the bark comes out through the variety of shades on the paper?
- Try to fill as much of the paper with your single bark rubbing without getting any crayon or pastels on the actual tree.
- Once you’ve finished with your first bark rubbing, move on to the next tree and repeat the above process.
- Keep going until you either get tired or run out of paper.
REFLECTION:
How many trees did you get a bark rubbing from? What are the similarities between the rubbings? How are they different? Did you get rubbings from different kinds of trees? What kinds?
CONNECTIONS:
A tree’s bark is like our skin, it helps to protect the tree from any animals, people or weather that might harm it.
TIDBITS:
Did you know that tree bark has been used historically for the creation of clothing and paper-like materials? The bark of some trees has also been used for medicinal treatments!
TIPS & IMAGININGS:
- This would be a great project to use one side paper that has already been written or printed on! Ask around to see who has some paper to give you instead of throwing away!
- Imagine you are tiny little bug living inside of the bark on a tree. What might the world look like from your tiny perspective?
xoxo,
M
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cool activity!
Thanks, Kelli!
I absolutely LOVE doing bark rubbings! I remember doing them when I was a little girl.
We do ours in a sketch pad. I’ve also had my daughter take pictures of the tress she’s taken rubbings from. Such a simple yet fun activity for children.
Wishing you a lovely day!
xoxo
I love the idea of taking a rubbing and a photo of the tree! Thanks for sharing 🙂