Reuniting Kids w/ Nature – Textured Landscapes

MATERIALS:

Construction paper of different colors, natural materials (small sticks, wood chips, leaves, rice, dried peas, dried beans, cotton balls, etc) glue, a paintbrush that can be used to spread your glue, scissors, a pencil

TIME FRAME:

1 – 3 hours (can be broken up into several time periods)

PROCEDURE:

1. Decide what type of landscape you would like to create; a mountain range, a sunset, a desert, the beach, and ocean, etc.
2. Decide what color background you would like your landscape to have and establish a piece of paper for your background (this project can get heavy, so you can also use a piece of cardboard either behind your paper or instead of paper as a background).
3. Using your pencil, lightly draw a basic outline of your idea directly onto your base (paper or cardboard)
4. Begin gluing your natural items to your base by spreading a little bit of glue at a time using your paintbrush. This will allow you to cover a larger area with a thin layer of glue.
5. Remember, you will be using natural materials instead of markers or crayons, so let your self be creative! Wood chips can be pieced together to form mountains, cotton balls can be clouds in the sky, beans can be birds, peas can be the ocean!
6. You can also glue items laying flat, or “standing up” off of your base, just remember, the heavier the item, the harder it might be to get it to stick!
7. Because your creation will be heavy, allow it to dry fully before moving it and make sure it is supported from underneath!

REFLECTION:

What materials did you choose for your landscape and why? Which was the easiest material to work with? Which was the most difficult? If you could work with any material in the world, what would it be and why?

TIPS & IMAGININGS:

• When creating a mosaic like this, it is a good idea to have a plan about what you’ll be creating before you begin, if for no other reason than to fit as much in as possible!
• If a regular sheet of paper feels overwhelming to begin with, feel free to start with a half sheet or a quarter sheet!

xoxo,
M