sunday kids' craft: taking it outdoors

I credit crafting with getting me through the winter with my sanity intact . . . although some who know me best may have questioned my level of sanity even before winter.  Regardless of your opinion on my sanity, our Sunday kids' crafts were a much needed diversion on those long winter nights.  There was excitement and anticipation every Sunday as we figured out what we could make with random supplies in the craft cupboard.  Coffee filters, paper rolls, noodles, wax paper, foam shapes, etc. all took on new life at the whim of our imaginations.  

Now that we are enjoying spring weather, our Sunday crafts are taking a new turn . . . specifically, a turn out the door and into the yard.  We've been inspired by nature.  You can be to.

First step:

Find an old bucket and repurpose it.  My girls quickly repurposed these buckets they found in our garage into nature buckets.  We talked about decorating them and personalizing them (and we may still do that), but that will wait for a rainy day when we are stuck inside.  

Second step:

Explore . . . the yard, the neighborhood, a local park, and pick up all the treasures that can be found.  My girls take great delight in rocks.  They can spend hours just looking at rocks and giving commentary on each unique one.  Their buckets were filled with many rocks in various shapes and sizes.  They also found pine cones, empty ears of corn, a feather, a few sticks, a variety of field flowers.  And I can't forget the squirrel tail they found at the park - which they were NOT allowed to pick up and put in their buckets.  (Look at that unusual rock that almost looks exactly like a Handy Mandy ball.  What an interesting find.)  

Third step:

Create shapes, pictures, words with various items in the nature bucket.  Here are a few of our nature creations.  (The first two pics are of my two year old hard at work.  She spent about 15 minutes on this one picture.  I asked her what she was creating, and she told me it was a sun.  I'll take her word for it.)

I'm a huge fan of this type of crafting because . . . 

it's active enough to entertain little ones with the shortest of attention spans

it requires no prep work

it gives us an excuse to get outside

clean up is minimal

possibilities are endless 
there is nothing to hang on our already over-crowded refrigerator
IT IS SO SIMPLE
   
The lesson I learned . . . don't limit kids' creativity to the craft supplies that can be found within the four walls of a house and behind the doors of a craft cupboard.  

Get outside and . . .
craft on!