Nature Through Artistic Expression
Scribble form is the first form of drawing/ writing in young children. The first markings from small grasping hands will bring a child on a lifetime journey of writing and reading. Bringing nature indoors and using aspects of it as either a visual representation that sparks an artistic idea, or using parts of the plant itself to create the art piece, are two important examples of how children will transfer what they know to different art mediums.
What is the purpose of using nature in art?
In the pictures above and below, you see us utilizing flower seeds and dried flower petals. We are incorporating another possible art medium to figure out how to use while expressing our creative side.
For young children, the more they can explore different textures, colors, shapes, and sizes, the more opportunities they have to broaden their understanding of our physical world. Marigold dried flowers and seeds offer three different textures and colors in one flower. The children can see the earth tone colors with the muted green and golden yellow/ brown of the dry leaves, and then contrast that with white and black stick-like seeds. Adding googly eyes and colored glue gives children another open pathway for creating an artistic expression of their own.
Exploring the parts of a flower and observing how that flower grows and changes during its lifetime is something large to ponder. When the children see freshly blooming marigolds and then scrutinize dried marigold flowers with seeds, they are noticing a drastic change in that plant’s lifetime.
Heidi Scott, BA & MIT
The Marigold School of Early Learning 