Go on an Art-n-Nature Element of Shape Hike

Our second Art-n-Nature hike last month was based on the art element Shape.

Luke used both geometric and organic shapes in his shape art collage, inspired by the fish his friend's mom caught with her bare hands..

The planning for it was quite similar to that of our first hike on Line, but the actual experience was much different.

Form (and structure building!) became everyone's practical "study" of the day.

But more on that in a bit.  First, let me share he basics of the hike's preparation so if you want to lead a similar hike, you can.

Planning Our Shape Hike

In planning the our Art-n-Nature Shape hike, I decided that vocabulary I would introduce would be:

• line - a mark that spans a distance between two points, like the edge of a pond
• shape - a two-dimensional space defined by edges, like that of a leaf
• organic shapes - for example, leaves, blobs, ponds or trees
• geometric shapes - for examaple, squares, circles, rectangles, hexagons, etc.
• positive shapes - ones defined by objects, like trees or leaves
• negative shapes - ones defined by objects around them, like holes in a tree or the space between branches

I then thought about a local trail that might have many interesting natural shapes -- one with fields, trees, a river, a pond, etc.

Then, among the art projects I had in mind,  decided on two that would be feasible to do along the trail -- providing multi-age interest without rquiring too many supplies for my pack.  These were:

•  creating "Shape Art" from found objects in nature using inspiration from Andy Goldsworthy

With diagonal, curved and even twisty "lines" made of sticks, some children combined several shapes to make this structure.

• and  making collages based on inspiration from both the nature we see around us and works of art from books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

A leaf picked up along the trail inspired my art work.

All this decided, I wrote up a hike announcement (which is shared at the link in case which you wish to adapt it for your own Art-n-Nature initiatives), and, then, prepared a bag with:

• snacks and lunch
• water bottles
• a first aid kit
• a baggie of index cards
• a black Sharpie
• print outs of inspirational Andy Goldworthy art works
• a copy of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
• a copy of How Artists Use Shape
• white paper
• pre-painted paper (painted with watercolors that included many autumn hues)
• glue sticks
• scissors
• colored pencils
• stiff plastic

These things done, the children and I headed out on the day of the hike to meet friends.

Our Shape Hike
 

Building structures in the woods.

I had planned to get our Shape Hike underway shortly after getting to the trailhead, with a quick review of Line, then a Shape spotting walk, a break for some found objects art, some further walking, a break for lunch and collaging and, finally, a hike back to the parking lot, with perhaps, a quick reading of How Artists Use Shape, along the return hike if we needed a break for the littles.  But, you know that saying, "Life is what happens when you are making other plans."  The same can be said of Art-n-Nature hikes. 

For, just before we left the house for our Shape hike, I found what appeared to be an engorged deer tick on Jack.  Knowing people would be waiting for us at the trailhead, I decided to remove the creature, put it in a baggie, call our family doctor, meet everyone at the trail parking lot, and, then, stick near the parking lot for a bit in case our doctor called me back and wanted to see Jack or the critter that I'd plucked off him, in which case I would leave my supplies (and maybe my older children) with the other moms, let everyone know where the trail was, what the projects were and head off to the doctor.

Luckily, that was not necessary.

Each of the children drew a shape, and, then, we sorted them based on their characteristics to "discover" what "organic" and "geometric" shapes are.

Instead, after the children ran around and played a little ball in the field near the parking lot to the trail, I called everyone together to review some basic ideas about the concept of "line" and to introduce "shape" using index cards, a sharpie, colored pencils, the nature around us and the children's ideas and prior knowledge. 

Not only did we find cool shapes in nature, but, we also found an old wheel shape that a tree had grown around!

After that, since one mom who had called and told me she'd be running late had still not arrive,  decided to do "shape spotting" in the roots of an interesting tree and its surroundings not too far from the parking lot instead of along the trail.

One child made a simple pyramid of triangle shapes.

I also showed the children a number of printouts of Andy Goldworthy's art and art other children made inspired by it.  With these as inspiration, the children got to work building their own nature art (and fairy houses, bug houses and forts!)

A mom explored creating negative space shapes.

Jack created a long line in the bug house/fort he was involved in making.

One child found an old birds' nest and gave it to Luke.

.  Luke decided the circular shape of the nest would make a wonderful addition to the bug house he was building.

Shortly after that, the mom who had called to say she'd be late called again to say she was lost.  So, I ran out to the street to wave her in and, finally, after catching her son up briefly with the concepts of line and shape that we'd already discussed as a group and allowing him some time to join in on building nature art and structures, we all set off along the trail, trying to find objects with interesting organic or geometric shapes along the way.

Jack lagged behind friends while looking for shapes (and, sometimes, asking to be carried.)

In a short while, we came to a small pond, where I introduced our collaging project, suggesting that the children cut geometric and organic shapes out of pre-painted paper to create a collage inspired by the nature around us.

We worked on shape art collages on the ground.

Some chose to do this before picnicking, others after, and others not all.  For some were more interested in catching fish in the river or exploring side trails.

Two friends begin their art collages.

One friend was rightfully proud of his collage made with organic and geometric shapes!

These boys were so excited when one awesome mama (not me) caught a fish with her bare hands that they had corralled toward her.

Jack and some of the other little boy, meanwhile, pretended to fish.

All, also, wanted to build yet more structures, while pausing occasionally to note beautiful fall foliage.  Whatever each child's choice was, all children enjoyed companionship in nature!

Nina decides where to place the next stick

A determined Jack carries his own piece to build with.

The Work of Childhood

Teamwork + Nature + Proprioception = An Awesome Afternoon!

Beautiful autumn views!

And, before going home, some of us enjoyed a bit more play and nature.

Enjoying a little post-hike football...

The boy digging negative space into a small grassy hill.

One of our friend's is always a critter magnet; creatures truly find her!

With five mamas, ten kids and a whole lot of fun, our second Art-n-Nature hike sure was an awesome experience.

Enjoy the Other Posts in This Series...

• Create Your Own Art-n-Nature Hiking Club with Five Easy Steps! 
• Planning and Preparing for our First Art-n-Nature Hike on the Element of Line 
• Go on an Art-n-Nature Art Element of Line Hike
• Go on an Art-n-Nature Element of Shape Hike

What are you favorite resources or activities for sharing nature and/or the elements of art with children?

Ideas I have come across while planning Art-n-Nature hikes are at Pinterest.  Feel free to add links to ideas you've come across (or blogged about!) in the comments and I'll add them to the board!

 

A Simple Activity for All Souls Day -- Or Any Day You Want to Pray with Children for the Faithful Departed

Sometimes, remembering the "right words" to prayer can be tough.

Other times, children are a bit sleepy-eyed.

At still other times, they are on the move.

So, what can you do to get children to pray (and play!) together eagerly on All Souls Day or any day when you want to focus on praying for the Faithful Departed?

Try the simple activity we engaged in on All Souls Day.

We circled up on the floor, held the die our parish gifted our son who is preparing for First Communion with, and made up an activity that engaged all of the children.

First, we wondered aloud and asked questions in order to engage the children in discussion about what All Souls Day is, who the Faithful Departed are and why we pray to them.

Then, we recalled some of the Faithful Departed we know and said a special prayer for them.

Finally, we asked who would like to continue praying for other Faithful Departed using our prayer die to help us.

My thought was that each member of our family would take a turn rolling the die and offering a prayer for a specific person or group of people who have passed on.  However, the children enjoyed praying for the Faithful Departed in this way so much, that we all took more than a single turn.  In fact, the children offered both formal prayers, as written on the die, as well as spontaneous prayers, for deceased family members, neighbors, friends and family of folks we know, "all people named Nina", "all people named Jack", "all Daddies", "all Mommies",  "all Lukes", "all children", "all who were sick", "all who had brown eyes" and more.

Some may think their intentions were silly.  To us, they were heartfelt and beautiful.  Preceded by thoughtful expressions or delighted grins, each intention sprang from my children's hearts and minds to their lips to be shared by our family, praying together for departed souls.

Easy.  Meaningful.  Engaging for our children.  Increasing their understanding of our faith and their desire to pray together.  Yep, this activity is a keeper!

How do you share the meaning of All Souls Day with young children?  In what ways can you engage them in praying for the Faithful Departed? 

If you would like a prayer cube to help your family, you can order them through a number of places, including, of course, Amazon:

 

(If you receive this post via email and cannot see the linky, be sure to actually click over to the blog to read browse the rich catalog of ideas there.)

As always, we thank you if you choose to click through the Amazon link in this post to make a purchase, or do so with other affiliate links on this site. Doing so does not cost you anything, but it may help us earn a small percentage of your purchase price to continue training up our children. Thank you!

This post was revisited at:

Living History with Story of the Pilgrims (Plus a HUGE Giveaway!)

What do a sandbox conversation, a field trip with grandparents, expanding vocabulary, multiple car rides, long bedtimes and many children's self-selected activities have in common?

Stories of the Pilgrims by Jim Hodges Audio Books!  

At least in our family they do. 

Since we received an audio download of Jim Hodges' Stories of the Pilgrims as part of the Bow of Bronze Launch Team back in September, the CD's that we made from it have been an absolute favorite among my children.  (It can become one of yours, too.  At the end of the post is a mega-giveaway that includes this audio and more!)

Our Listening Experience

We initially listened to the four hours and ten minutes of Jim Hodges' engaging narration in Stories of the Pilgrims during long car rides to and from two weekend events.  During these rides, our children were so enraptured by the Story of the Pilgrims that when we shut the car engine off at our destinations, they actually asked us to turn the CD back on.  Yep, despite being excited about our family field trips, they wanted to listen to more of Stories of the Pilgrims before clambering out of the car!

The children's enthusiasm for Stories of the Pilgrims did not end after that.  Indeed,  many subsequent car rides found us following the adventures of the Pilgrims from the Scrooby Inn in England, to Holland, to the Mayflower, to the New World.  

Likewise, the 43 chapters of the Stories of the Pilgrims, which range from two minutes of listening to twenty-three, have played in the background of many household and play activities, per our children's request, and have also been central to homeschool lessons.  

Of course, they have also been played for hours and hours on end at bedtime by all of our children, and, particularly, by our oldest son who has difficulty getting to sleep, but has happily laid in bed for weeks and weeks of nights listening to Stories of the Pilgrims.  (Thanks, Jim.  Our boy may not have been sleeping, but at least, as he has listened to all four hours of your narration at once, he has rested his body while filling his mind with history, literature, vocabulary and more!)

Extending Our Listening Experience

So how are the sandbox conversation, the field trip with grandparents and the self-selected activities of the kids that I mentioned in the opening to this post related to Stories of the Pilgrims?

Well, one day while the children were at a park doing this:

Testing "Holland Dikes" Built at A Huge Sandbox

a woman came up and asked why they were out of school.  I explained that we homeschool.  She then asked me a bit about homeschooling before meandering over to the children to ask them what they were doing.  

The children replied that they were working on "dikes for Holland".  The woman responded with a smile, "Oh, you've made a castle and are calling it Holland."  The children shook their heads and explained, "No, we are building dikes, like in Holland, where the Pilgrims were."  The woman, in turn, looked perplexed and commented, "You mean England."  The kids, then, explained, "No, Holland.  The Pilgrims went to Holland..."

After the children finished telling the woman what they knew, she came over to me and commented that she had never known that the Pilgrims had lived in Holland.  That she had learned a new thing that day.  Did I teach my children all of that?  I smiled and said, "No a CD taught them a lot of it.  I just help them further their understanding."

Nina searched and searched the Plantation until she found one of the characters featured in Stories of the Pilgrims.

One way I helped the kids extend (question and balance!) the knowledge they gleaned from countless hours listening to Stories of the Pilgrims was by taking them to Plimoth Plantation. My children were so excited when Grammy and Grampy offered to treat us to field trip there, and I was, too.  For, despite the fact that I enjoy and and would recommend Jim Hodges audio of Margaret B. Pumphrey's Stories of the Pilgrims as much as my children would, I also realize that, being a narration of a living history book published in the early 1900's, the audio contains inherent bias.  It portrays the indigenous people of our country in a less than balanced light.  So, I looked forward to having the children listen, look and question at the Wompanoag village at the Plantation in order to drive home some of the discrepancies between the portrayal of indigenous people in Stories of the Pilgrim and the stories told by today's historians and Wompanoag descendents.

Luke paused from asking a zillion questions to the interpeters, based on what he'd heard in Stories of the Pilgrim, to pound some corn.

Of course, prior to going to the Plantation, I had paused the audio of The Story of the Pligrims at times to answer the kids' questions about "savages", why the term "indians" was used and why the indigenous people on the audio said things like "ugh ugh".  However, being hands-on kinds of kids, I knew talking to interpreters at the Plantation, while surrounded by living history experiences, would really make things click for them.  I was not wrong!

Jack, happy to be like "one of the pilgrims from the CD" tries his hand at threshing.

How they loved the day we spent at the Plantation... and how they learned! 

In fact, how they continue to learn from connecting Stories of the Pilgrims to other experiences.  Vocabulary.  History.  Storytelling.  Inquiry and research.  It's all been unfolding.

Nina decided to de-kernel corn one day, wanting to pound it like the Pilgrims and the indigenous people did.

The Study Guide 

Along with the review copy of the Stories of the Pilgrims audio I received, I also received an early version copy of the Study Guide that Jim Hodges put together to go along with the audio.  Since my children are still young, I did not use the guide as is with them.  But, I did smile as I noted how many of the vocabulary words contained in the guide were words my children had either asked me about or just begun using during dramatic play.  I also drew on the guide for ideas to enhance the children's current learning experiences and have no doubt I will turn to it in future years, too.

Filled with vocabulary words, comprehension questions, map activities, cooking activities, Venn Diagrams, virtues and faith concepts, crafts, and more, the study guide, which is currently priced at $5 offers avenues for learners of many ages and styles to expand their knowledge.   

Two other wonderful resources, where there are many balanced historical facts about the Pilgrims, indigenous people and Thanksgiving are The Pilgrim Hall Museum online resources and the interactive online Thanksgiving Investigation at the Plimoth Plantation website.

Between Jim Hodges engaging Stories of the Pilgrims audio, its supplementary study guide and some related explorations, we have had a wonderful couple months of learning happening in our home.  Undoubtedly, your family can also learn and enjoy with such resources!

Interested in hearing Jim Hodges' Stories of the Pilgrims yourself?

You can sample the first chapter for FREE or purchase Stories of the Pilgrims on SALE through the end of the month for just $15 at Jim Hodges Audio Books. You can also enter to win one of two incredible prize packages!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to learn how others are using Stories of the Pilgrims?   

Read more reviews at the Bow of Bronze Stories of the Pilgrims Launch Team page.

   

 

Go on an Art-n-Nature Art Element of Line Hike

As promised in last week’s post, Planning and Preparing for Our First Art-n-Nature Hike on the Element of Line, today I am sharing a report about our first hike -- which was rather idyllic.

Hopefully, as you review the photos and explanations of our Line Hike, you will gain ideas for enjoying your own Element of Line-inspired nature experiences! (If so, I’d love it if you’d stop back and tell us about them in a comment.)

Our Line Hike

Although a number of families RSVP’d for the hike, only one other family was able to make it and what a time we had!

When we got to the trailhead, the “big boys” were pysched to get going! 

Nina and Jack, however, were less enthused. Jack wanted to be carried and Nina was “in a mood”.

Knowing Nina and Jack would quickly regroup after morning snack, the other mom and I decided to sit down at the trailhead for a quick bite as I lead a brief discussion about the art element line. 

We each drew a type of line on an index card, defined a line as being a moving point or a path traced between two points, then, named and drew a wide variety of lines on more index cards. Each child selected at least one of these cards before setting off on the trail. 

Their challenge was to find examples of lines in nature, noticing the wide variety of interesting natural lines around us. In doing so, they noticed many other natural wonders, too. 

It seemed that every step we initially took along the trail resulted in dozens of grasshoppers jumping in every direction. This, of course, thrilled and enthralled the children, who tried to spy where each grasshopper landed on the flowers around us and even caught a few to inspect, noticing the angular lines of the grasshoppers’ legs. 

Jack also inspected bits of wood and nuts found along the trail, comparing the lines and shapes of each.

And, all of us noted bright blooms that were not as plentiful as the other flowering plants around us. When we did, I wondered aloud about how and why these blooms came to be where they were and the children hypothesized about bird droppings, seeds catching on hikers, etc. 

I also drew the children’s attention to creatures I spotted along the way. These, they enjoyed inspecting from a closer point of view. 

After hiking along and taking in the spectacular natural beauty for a while, we finally sat down to do our first simple project: a watercolor resist. 

The trail we hiked paralleled a river at points, so my plan was to notice autumn leaves floating on the water and, then, to inspect some fallen ones near to us before creating stylized leaves out of wax crayons and oil pastels with a blue watercolor wash over them. However, the foliage was still too dense to get a good view of the river – and what we could see of it was more brown than blue, of course. 

No matter. I adapted the plan by having the children each find leaves to inspect for line. 

We then used these as inspiration to draw shapes on paper, which we divided into sections. In each of these sections, I suggested that the children draw a different type of line. 

Then, as the children took a break to eat picnic lunches and collect hickory nuts, I secretly wrote a message on each child's paper in white.  

I, then, invited the children to paint a water color wash over their drawings.  My children had done resists before and always enjoy doing them. The other children had not and, thus, reacted with “Cool!” as they witnessed their crayon and pastel lines resisting the watercolor paint. 

While we were doing the project, we noted some sort of chrysalis or cocoon on a nearby branch.

After the project, I shared some printouts of Andy Goldsworthy’s art and challenged the kids to create their own nature art. 

They happily set to work as a team gathering hickory nuts to hold a perpendicular line (stick), which they topped with a colorful leaf.  Then, there was more hickory nut play before we all headed back out to the trailhead. 

During the walk back, we continued to spot natural lines in the flowers, grasses, trees, critters, etc. and to enjoy the grasshoppers and other we spied along the way...

... including a stick bug that hitched a ride with us for a short while. 

It was truly an idyllic day, filled with discovery, wonder, art, nature and friendship – just what we were looking for when we began our fall Art-n-Nature hiking club. 

In the weeks to come, I will share about the other hikes we have done. 


Enjoy the Other Posts in This Series...

• Create Your Own Art-n-Nature Hiking Club with Five Easy Steps! 
• Planning and Preparing for our First Art-n-Nature Hike on the Element of Line 
• Go on an Art-n-Nature Art Element of Line Hike
• Go on an Art-n-Nature Element of Shape Hike

And, of course, please feel free to comment with your favorite ideas and inspiration on Line, Shape, Form, Color, Value, Texture and Space, as well as to visit our growing Art-n-Nature Hikes Pinterest board, where you'll find reports, ideas and inspiration.