I remember when I was a child, walking home from school I would pick up little things from nature I found along the way. From small pebbles to feathers, leaves or different coloured flowers. Mum would always have to check my pockets before washing. Nature has always fascinated me from the intricate design of a flower to the tallest tree with branches filled with leaves. From a very young age, my kids have been connected to our garden. Being outside offers so much for a child so they can remain balanced. As they grow they really do start to appreciate how important nature is for our health and well-being. They learn to respect nature. Finding treasures to keep in a garden diary, is probably one of the best activities we’ve done. I’m sure your children will enjoy it too.
Garden Craft journal (garden diary)
What you’ll need:
- Brown paper bags (the cheap lunch bags)
- Stapler
- Tape for binding
- Hole puncher
- String or ribbon
- Print outs: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
(You’ll need to print more of the internal sheets to fill the journal)
- Glue
- Scissors
Instructions:
- Select 6 paper bags and place them on top of each other top to tail (one open end then one closed end). Once you’ve done this, grab your neat pile of bags and fold them in half to make 12 pages. Grab your stapler and staple along the fold in a few places to secure your 12 pages. To finish this stage, you just need to add the tape along the fold over the staples to form a binding.
- Using your hole puncher go to the opening side of your journal and punch 2 holes in the front page and 2 holes in the back page only, close to the edge. This will be where they can secure their journal with string or a ribbon. Cut 4 pieces of ribbon or string which are the same length and secure to your 4 holes.
- All they have to do now is print out the template pages and glue them in. Please note that the glue can take a while to dry, so they should colour in the front page before gluing. It would be good as a two step project where they can create the journal one day and then go exploring and crafting the next day.
The idea is for the kids to find garden treasures, and create craft, art, drawings or write a story about them. They can record their findings in their journal, then create projects off the back of it. It’s a great way to encourage imagination and kick start their creativity. Taking notes, learning from experience and spending time in nature is the best way to recharge and energise anyone’s thinking and children are much the same.
We hope the kids enjoy making and creating from our garden craft journal as much as we did.
