These 4 circular panels have been a collaboration with year 5 pupils in Art and Outdoor learning.
We made close observations of flower heads and created clay relief tiles, which were painted and glazed so they could go outside.
The children’s handmade tiles were mixed with glass square tiles to make these beautiful panels to brighten up our entrance corridor outside.
Only a few weeks to go until we break for Christmas, the rehearsals have started for the Christmas concert and the Christmas art club have begun the decorations.
Not to be left out of all the fun, forest school have been making bird feeders with a Christmas twist. We took the traditional Christmas Pomander idea made with whole dried cloves studded into an orange and used apples and sunflower seeds to tempt the birds.
Apple Pomanders
We wired two flour sieves together onto a broom handle, added popcorn and secured the opening with bulldog clips. The resulting popcorn, delicious.
This activity helps to promote group cohesion, physical activity and communication (social & emotional learning)
It can be a useful activity to calm a group, or to identify and resolve group problems and tensions. Some children can find it very difficult to relax and trust everyone to support them. They may show this in different ways – by refusing to take part, or by fooling about. Don’t push anyone to take part if they are not comfortable, but encourage everyone to be supportive of each other.
Set the scene –
Short lengths of elder are ideal for jewelry making as the central pith is easily removed with a skewer or tent peg. Children can peel off the bark (use pen knives for older children, potato peelers for younger ones), then thread and decorate them.
Equipment
Fairly large pieces of clay for each child (needs to be fairly easy to knead and mould – play dough or bread dough might be easier for younger children). Bag for each child to collect natural materials. Hand washing facilities!
Time required
1 hour (depending on length of walk) including gathering materials, making model and looking at the finished creatures. Extension activities like Story telling could make this longer.
The activity
Introduce the activity by talking about and searching for the variety of minibeasts found in the woods. It could be linked to teaching about habitats.
Explain that they are going to make models of giant minbeasts. They can choose to make minibeasts like those they have just found – or perhaps to imagining an extinct giant minibeast that might have lived in the woods along time ago. Imagine a minibeast Jurassic Park!
If the children are familiar with their site let them explore it, and gather natural materials that could be used with the clay to make their creature. Give them some examples of the sort of materials that could be useful such as nuts for eyes, moss for hair and encourage them to dig in the leaf litter to find suitable materials.
Encourage them to find a suitable location where they can settle their model as it is made – on a tree branch, in a hollow, on a stone so that the others can find them. Each child can make their own model or they may prefer to work in small groups. They could make different stages in the life cycle of one creature or a whole family of them.
Then walk through the woods together spotting all the strange creatures. Are they camouflaged? Encourage each child to tell something of their creature’s story – its name, where it comes from etc.
Variations
They may enjoy making ‘mini-shelters’ for their minibeasts using natural materials found close by. Discuss what minibeasts might need to survive in the woodland, by day and night.
An alternative to making the giant minibeasts is to make goblins using a stick for the body and making the head from clay or dough which is then decorated with natural materials to make features, hair etc. They look very effective hung in the trees.
Simple but striking ‘Tree spirits’ can be made from clay. Mould the clay into a flat face shape in the palm of the hand and gouge out the features with twigs or fingers to make simple faces that can be stuck onto the trees.
Natural materials don’t inhibit those children who would otherwise protest ‘but I can’t draw!’
Take your class or a small group on a walk in the playground or in a nature area. Ask them to feel and touch things around them.
How many textures can you touch?
Environmental artists such as Andy Goldsworthy and Chris Drury use natural woodland materials to build and create 3D art and sculpture in the woods.
Why not build your own twig tower sculpture under a tree…?
Gather some twigs, ready to create your twig tower. It could have a square base, a triangular base or be of your own design.
The best place to build the tower would be beneath a tree as you can try to build the tower up to the lower branches.
If there’s a very low branch then you could build around it so that the branch becomes part of your sculpture.
You could also use a tree trunk as support.
Outdoor Learning 