This month’s nature activity was created by my own four-year old son who decided recently that it would be a good idea to paint that beautiful pinecone he had found. I thought it was a great idea, and several brush strokes of tempera paint and globs of glitter glue later, we had a beautiful piece of nature art to display! You could do this with all kinds of natural materials – pine cones, rocks, sticks, shells, feathers – whatever your child finds interesting! Bring it home, supply some paint, glitter glue, markers, or other art supplies, and just see what your little one comes up with. This could be a good idea for a mother’s day gift this month – a hand-painted rock paper weight! For a truly professional finish, glaze the finished product with some clear gloss found at a craft store. 

Another related idea if your child finds any interesting rocks, is to give them a bucket of water and perhaps a sponge or rag, and let them clean the rocks in the water so they can see all the beautiful colors come through. My son can literally do this for an hour in total fascination.