Educating the Heart with Nature Art. How to Make a Leaf Crown

Transcription

1 Educating the Heart with Nature Art How to Make a Leaf Crown

2 Educating the Heart with Nature Art Leaf Crown

3 Leaf Hunting Hunting for the leaves is all part of the fun. Allow the students to collect their very own leaves. Investigate the trees and the fallen leaves Colour, Shape,Texture 2

4 How to make a simple leaf crown This is one of the simplest crowns you can make using only three items What you need: 1. A selection of leaves (at least 3-5 for a child s crown 2. A bundle of Pine-needles. If you don t have pineneedles you can use willow or vine sticks, alternatively you could make your head ring using a thin strip of cardboard or two pipe-cleaners join together. 3. Twine You will also require scissors Circle of life Once it s time to discard your crown, it can be given back to the earth, knowing it is made from all natural materials. To begin a new journey in the circle of life. 3

5 How to make: 1. Sort the pine-needles into 4 groups of 3

6 2. Holding one of the group of 3 needles tie one end, with the twine. For smaller hands its easier to use masking tape instead of twine. Please note: If you do use masking tape or wire instead of twine, please remember to remove after you have finished playing with your crown, thank you. 3. Make a knot. Now at the opposite end add a new group of 3 needles. 4. Overlap the groups and tie with more twine. Add your next group of pineneedles to create one long strip of pine-needles.

7 5. Take a single leaf and place it facing downwards. Now take your strip of pine-needles and place over the leaf an inch or so from the bottom of the leaf. 6. Fold the leaf over the pineneedle strip and hold in place.

8 7. Now take a single pine needle, pierce the leaf with the sharp end and thread it through the leaf to the other side. Weave in and out just as you would if you were making stitches. Note: The leaves can tear quite easily so you can help youngsters by creating a hole first then asking them to feed the pine needle in and out. As an alternative you could use an actual needle with either twine or embroidery thread in place of the pine needle.

9 8. Add a new leaf and stitch it in place. You will require a new pine needle for every leaf or every second leaf.

10 Make a circle 9. Take your long pine-needle strip and bend it into a circle and fasten the ends with twine to hold the circle in place Measuring the child s head to make sure the circle sits neatly on the child s head. Using willow as an alternative Take your long piece of willow and bend it into a circle shape, weaving the leftover piece of willow around the initial circular shape to hold the whole thing in place. Using pipe-cleaners For tiny hands, you can use two pipe-cleaners. Simply twist them together to create a long pipe-cleaner then bend into a circle shape and close the ends.

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12 My special needs student made this beautiful maple leaf crown. We used masking tape instead of twine.

13 For this crown we used willow and walnut leaves. We used the walnut leaf stem to stitch the leaves onto the willow crown base.

14 Mini Crowns

15 Mini crowns can be made in exactly the same way for dolls and teddy bears, using smaller leaves

16 For this mini crown I used a needle and embroidery thread.

17 Make nature play every day

18 We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing

19 Imagination The crowns are just one of the many nature art activities you can do using fallen leaves. Learning as we play in nature Getting to know your local trees; nurturing a connection with these majestic beings Counting and measuring Sorting by colour, shape, texture Investigating: Why do leaves change colour and fall

20 Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. Albert Einstein

21 Creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status. Sir Ken Robinson Wishing you all a magical and enchanting Autumn. With love and gratitude, Marghanita x For more nature art activities, visit our NATURE ART PROGRAM We would love you to join us at

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