Nature-play craft activity: leaf garlands

Nature play and craft are two of our favourite things and this activity features both!

To make your leaf bunting you'll need to get outdoors and hunt down some ool leaves to paint and thread into a leaf garland.

You will need…

• freshly picked leaves, in a variety of shapes and sizes. Nothing too ‘waxy’, as these can be hard to paint
• paint (acrylic or gouache works best)
• paintbrushes
• small stick
• string
• water to rinse out brushes

How to make your leaf garland:

1. Lay out your leaves.

2. Paint the leaves. Add a mix of both block colour and patterns: spots, stripes—whatever takes your fancy!

3. Let your leaves dry.

4. Tie a length of string to your stick.

5. Once the paint is dry, push your stick through the middle of each leaf to create a small hole, and thread the string through.

6. Continue until all the painted leaves are threaded.

: )

Nature play craft by legend Beci Orpin for Lunch Lady Magazine Issue 11. 

Want to know more about why kids need to spend time in nature? Richard Louv explains all in his interview with Lunch Lady Magazine.