As the season shifts from summer to fall here in Minnesota the air gets cooler and the trees begin to change. With so many vibrant colors starting to appear it provides the perfect time to introduce the relationship between nature and art. We recently took a trip to Lowry Nature Center within the Carver Park Reserve to join their Lowry Little Ones session on Nature Art. We love Lowry, it is one of our most regularly visited parks for hiking, home school activities, and holiday festivals. On this morning we started with some free play at the stations they had set up. We buzzed from puppets, to the sensory table, to nest building, and finally outside for mud painting and flower printing. Soon it was time to gather everyone for circle time where the naturalist showed us some beautiful pictures of art made by nature. A close up of a butterfly wing, ripples from raindrops on a pond, agate slices, and ice shards…it is no difficult task to find the beauty in nature.

The children really loved the discussion and show and tell of nature art. We headed out to the trail with our eyes open for anything beautiful and interesting. Our first stop was under a large maple tree. The children loved collecting leaves of all colors and sizes as well as “helicopter” seeds. The mathematical thinking happening here was so obvious in their creations. Some children used the leaves to make shapes, while others made patterns according to color or size. Others got a little more creative, using sticks and leaves to make nests or faces.

As we continued down the trail to a rock area, the children were encouraged to find ways to use rocks to create art. The children used both fine and gross motor skills to arrange rocks big and small. We experimented with balance and gravity while trying to stack large heavy rocks and used focus and concentration to create patterns with tiny pebbles. Again the mathematical and spatial reasoning skills were on point here, playing with quantity comparison, patterns, and problem solving. Before moving on the children all worked together to each find the biggest rock they could and line them up along the trail. Creative teamwork at its best!

As we made our way into the woods the children quickly noticed how the path was completely blanketed in fallen leaves. The naturalist showed the children some hand clippers and explained how to use them. They were each given a turn and were allowed to clip one piece of live plant. You could see the responsibility the children felt holding real tools and making choices that would impact the forest. The children used their clipping to weave into a loom made from sticks and twine, which created a beautiful piece of collaborative art. We also used the sticks that were on the forest floor to create buildings and sculptures. Some used the sticks to create pictures while others stuck them into the ground in interesting ways. We also found some large branches to add to the stick forts which inevitably led to some great pretend play.

After the preschool session wrapped up we had to head over to our favorite nature inspired playgrounds which is also at Lowry Nature Center. Each piece of play equipment is inspired by animal habitats. There are flowers to jump between like buzzing bees, a dragonfly bench which gives the impression of looking at the world through the eyes of a dragonfly, a hollowed out tree complete with a steep and winding slide, as well as otter slides and a beaver dam with underground access. This playground alone is enough reason to visit Lowry in case their excellent programming, miles of trails, and abundant wildlife weren’t enough!

To learn more about Lowry Nature Center and the Carver Park Reserve visit Lowry Nature Center.