Nature Weaving

This nature weaving activity combines creativity and the outdoors. It costs nothing and encourages exploration of textures and nature. I got the inspiration from a copy of the Australian Women’s Weekly circa 1970something that I picked up at a friend’s garage sale.

Materials needed:

• twine
• four sticks
• items found in nature

The first step to this activity is to find four sticks. To create more of a square frame, the sticks need to be of similar size or to create a rectangle, two longer sticks and two shorter sticks will do the trick.

Step by step:

1. Using the twine, make a frame by attaching the sticks together at each corner. You can do this by winding the twine around and knotting once it is securely fastened.
2. Once your frame is finished, wind the twine around the frame, looping on each end before continuing on to the other side (see photo below) until the frame has lines of twine across it. Secure by knotting.
3. Go on a nature walk and collect leaves, twigs, weeds, flowers, feathers, grass, and other items for the project.
4. Weave the items collected one at a time over and under the twine, alternating to create more interest.
5. Admire your lovely creation!

A few of my kids got really into this project, in particular, Einstein and Dancing Queen, while some were not as interested. I think that had we gone on a big nature hike somewhere, it would have captured their attention more. Looking for items in the backyard wasn’t as appealing as it would have been in a forest or on someone else’s land!

The kids that did participate enjoyed it and especially liked the finished products. It was also neat to see the different variety of things that they came up with to include. Our yard is full of treasures waiting to be found and since we just got back from a week of camping, long grass was certainly not hard to find!

Nature weaving is a good sensory experience for kids as well. There are many different textures that can be included. I think Einstein will probably make these on his own in the future. He also really liked the idea of making a frame out of sticks and now that he has that skill, he will likely create frames for other art projects in the same way.

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