Kids: Four-Day Nature’s Studio - Art from the Earth

Over four creative days, kids will use clay, leaves, stones, and other natural materials to build their own “nature studio.”

Day 1: Captured by the Sun Sun-Prints & Leaf Shadows We start our week by partnering with the sun! Using light-sensitive Cyanotype paper, students will "photograph" the silhouettes of local leaves, flowers, and feathers. We’ll explore how UV light creates a chemical reaction, leaving us with beautiful, Prussian-blue masterpieces of the natural world.
Day 2: The Artist’s Garden Natural Pigments & Botanical Painting Where does paint come from? Today, we become "Art Chemists." We will crush berries, charcoal, and flower petals to extract their natural pigments, creating our own eco-friendly paint. Students will use these "earth-tones" to illustrate a Botanical Field Guide, documenting the plants found right outside our door.
Day 3: Hidden Spirits Garden Guardians & Earth Sculpting Today, we create art for the earth! Using mud, air-dry clay, sticks, and stones, students will sculpt "Tree Spirits" or "Garden Guardians." We’ll focus on ephemeral art—art that is meant to change over time as the wind and rain interact with it. It’s a lesson in letting go and celebrating the "now."
Day 4: The Giant Loom Nature Weaving & Collaborative Mandalas In our final session, we’ll work together to build a "Community Mandala" on the ground using hundreds of colorful stones and petals. Then, each student will build their own branch-frame loom, weaving together grasses, vines, and yarn to create a textured hanging that brings the beauty of the outdoors inside.

Tiny Art Explorers: Big Mark Making with Chalk & Wash