Seeing the change of the seasons is a great conversation starter with the children, and even more so when we include it in our crafting activities. We have done things in the past where we used things that we found in nature to make imprint pictures, and we have made rubbings of different tree barks on our walks and have created drawings of things that we have seen when we have been out and about.
This summer holiday all three children wanted to get involved with some seasonal artwork…so with a couple of age-appropriate activities we did something for each season!
Let’s start with Squish…she has an adorable pre-schooler curiosity about bugs and insects, so we made a summer-themed fingerprint picture of buzzy bees using STABILO Woody 3-in-1 pencils as paints. It is so easy to mix up a little of the pencil tip with water and use with tiny fingers as they are non-toxic. Being washable also meant that the evitable splashes on Squish’s clothes came out in a standard 30-degree wash.
Fidget, the middle child with a very active imagination wanted to do something about autumn, which is great when the children will be going back to school as the leaves fall. So, we took leaves that had already fallen in the garden and decorated them with googly eyes and STABILO metallic pens to makes leaf monsters!
Finally, Wriggler was keen to create two worlds, one a winter wonderland and the other more spring-like in its palette. So, we started the winter one on black paper and made a collage from petals and twigs and then used STABILO Woody 3-in-1 pencils to add in details and texture of a wintery scene. The spring picture was done using STABILO Easycolor set, great for those building in confidence with the tripod grip and a lovely soft colour range. Wriggler created something purely from his imagination and the three of the children bounced ideas of off each other as they made up their creations.
Seeing how drawing skills develop over the years is so rewarding, especially when the children talk in detail about what they want to show or include in the picture. It is pretty cute when you hear Squish telling a story about she has created!
Katie Banks of Little House of Words