Art You Can Make from Nature

Take a walk in nature, pick out a selection of leaves, and create a leaf printing masterpiece! With so many beautiful leaves around us — of different shapes and sizes — you can produce something truly original with just a few paint colors and some sturdy paper or cardboard. Mas&Pas has a complete leaf printing tutorial to help you create a colorful design like no other!

Who needs watercolors or acrylics when you can use Mother’s Nature’s paints outside? Create a mud painting using soil from your garden or mud from the park, and use a stick to scratch the surface to create a beautiful cityscape. Get started on your masterpiece by going to Tate Kids for easy-to-follow instructions. 

Rocks are the perfect canvas for your creative artworks, and the fun starts with sourcing the most perfect rock! On your next nature walk with the fam, be on the lookout for smooth stones ideal for painting your designs, and collect them on your journey. The creative fun begins on your return — check out the ideas at Rhythms of Play to get started with your own rock painting art museum!

Not only are these wind chimes easy breezy to make — you can tap into Mother Nature’s art supplies! Simply collect a variety of sticks from outside and get painting! These rainbow-colored wind chimes are sure to brighten up your day.

Great paintings start with great artistic tools! Head outside to gather grasses, leaves, stems, flowers, and more, and pinch them into clothespins (or tie them to sticks) to make textured paintbrushes. Dip them into tempera paints, and watch the magic happen with every brushstroke. Messy Little Monster has step-by-step instructions for making your very own botanical paintbrushes. 

Flowers are among Mother Nature's most beautiful creations, and pressing flowers is a wonderful way to preserve this beauty. Collect any freshly fallen flowers from the ground, or pick them directly from the plant. Press them in a large book for a few days, and plot your design! Buggy and Buddy has a fun take on the pressed flower fun—providing steps on how you can make pressed flower bookmarks! 

With the power of the sun, little creatives can make a series of stunning sun prints. There are so many natural treasures around us to create striking silhouettes! Here's how it works: the sunlight interacts with light-sensitive paper, the color of the exposed paper changes, and produces a beautiful silhouette around any object placed on the paper. Ready to make your own? Follow the steps on PBS Kids to get started! 

Our gardens are bursting with vibrant colors, and some of these same colors can be made into natural dyes perfect for — you guessed it — tie-dye! A variety of different plants and flowers are perfect for dye-making — the question is: where do you start? Find out by going to the Ormond Art Museum and get in on the tie-dye fun!