Spring is on the horizon; what a wonderful time to spend time outside in nature. A forested area, a park, or even your own yard and neighborhood are full of new and delightful sights, sounds and smells. With spring come baby leaves, fresh air, bountiful colors, busy birds and the scurry of many animals preparing for the arrival of young ones.
If you have a digital camera or a phone with a camera, grab it, but any kind of camera will do. The beauty of a digital camera, though, is that you can take all kinds of pictures and keep only the ones you like. Take a trip outside and use the camera as you would a magnifying glass. Take a new, close-up look at the many small miracles all around. The bark and branches of a tree, the shape of a bird as it flies, the fresh plants emerging from the ground. Take pictures of anything that strikes you and that you may want to share with others.
Once you get the hang of it, look even closer and see if you can find letters in the different designs of nature. For example, there is an S in the young snake that passes by or a worm in the fresh soil, a V in the crook of a tree trunk or an open baby bird’s mouth. There are many Os and Us in the different shapes of spring flowers and an N and M in the grasses growing all around.
Find the letters in your name and take many pictures of each. Once inside, choose the ones you like the best, print them and put them together to form your name and hang it on the wall or use it for your bedroom door sign. You can do the same for others’ names and share them as gifts.
This activity was shared with me by a new friend. She found it in the Nature Conservation magazine and her grandchildren love it!
Kelly Dupre of Grand Marais is an artist, children’s author, and educator with over 20 years teaching experience with all age groups in a variety of settings. The activities in this once-amonth column are spin-offs and combinations of ideas she has used and learned from teachers, parents, kids, books, and workshops. Only some of the activities has she actually thought of herself! Do you have a project or an idea you would like to see on the Whirligigs page? Let us know! Send your suggestion to starnews@boreal.org.
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