A Children’s Art Activity using Items from Nature
Making prints from objects in nature is a fun art project for kids and the results can be beautiful. We’ve made fern frond prints before, but this was our first time making dandelion prints. If you’re following along with us on the June Nature calendar, here’s one way to do the nature print activity.
This is a great activity to do outside and catch some sunshine while you’re making art.
Materials needed:
- dandelions, other flowers, or leaves
- paint (we used acrylic)
- card stock or other paper
We choose to make cards, but your child might enjoy decorating a large piece of paper with their nature prints.
How to Make Dandelion Nature Prints
Gather dandelions or other flowers, leaves, or items from nature. I think chives and clover would be great for this.
Spread some paint on a flat surface. We used sour cream lids. Dip your dandelion in the paint and make nature prints by pressing it lightly onto the piece of paper. It might take some practice until you get the results you want.
If your paint is too thick, you will get blotches like the green on the cards below. I was trying to be frugal and use up some really old paint.
If you dip your dandelion in water first, it will make softer prints. That’s what we did with the blue-green on the cards in the following picture. Then we added red and purple that wasn’t diluted in water. I think the softer green looks like leaves in the background.
Experiment with different techniques until you get the result you want. Of course, your child will probably not be picky about the results and will just enjoy the process.
That’s all that’s to it. This is a project my little girl would do every day if I let her. She’s really into giving people cards right now, so she loved having homemade cards to give to them.
Let us know how yours turned out.
This post is part of a 10 Day Learning with Nature Series. If you enjoyed this activity, you might want to take a look at the other posts in the series.
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