We have had quite a few storms come through recently and the winds have blown a lot of bark and branches off of our large eucalyptus trees…luckily no damage but i did notice the twins have enjoyed picking up the bark when playing outside and bringing it over to me to ‘discuss’!

We are lucky to live in an environment surrounded by trees and bird life and this has led to a real interest in nature’s gifts for the girls. The love to collect flowers, gum tree pods, wattle seeds, branches, twigs, leaves and now bark while playing outside.

I decided to foster this interest and incorporate the bark into some easy water painting….and the toddler twosome really enjoyed it! I used just water with vegetable dyes and made them slightly more concentrated than i normally would. Then outside with the paint pots, brushes and our trusty painting tray!

A very easy activity and one to try if you have some bark or other natural materials lying around just waiting to be discovered. While they are painting it is a great opportunity to discuss different textures, colours, where the materials came from and what else you could do with them! I enjoy letting children create collages of materials from nature too but at the moment the girls aren’t really into the pasting stage just yet!

What do you have lying around outside that could become tools for a masterpiece?

Have a lovely weekend all xx