Cracking Crafts and Forestry Fun: Activities for Easter
Happy Easter! Although is a great occasion for the whole family to enjoy, Easter is also often filled with over-eating chocolate and results in hyper-active children. Shona has created a few forest-themed ideas, as well as a collection of activity sheets, for you to keep them enthusiastic and engaged this year, making it an extra special Easter to remember for the whole family!
Mindfulness Activities
Getting into nature and allowing yourself to be guided by what you see is a great opportunity to practice mindfulness. It’s not about coming out with something perfect, but instead about concentrating on what is around you. Below you will find three suggestions to help guide you in a mindful and crafty direction.
1. Branch-Watching
When I was a child, living next to a forest, one of my favourite ways to relax was actually what I call branch-watching. It’s a lot like cloud watching in a way, except with trees. You look in the branches for images that come to mind. Use the lines against the sky to find pictures. This is a fantastic way of inducing creative thinking and can be fantastic boredom buster and also great way to practice a little mindfulness.
Hint: If you fancy turning it into an art activity, why not try drawing what you see. If you have young children this could be as simple as recognising shapes like (wiggly) squares and circles; if you want a more advanced challenge, let your imagination lead you.
2. Leaf Butterflies
Why not try at making some leafy butterflies! These easy-to-make creatures can be hung up on strings or used as beautiful table decorations. Simply gather suitable leaves (the more flexible the leaf, the easier to work with) and shape the leaf into wings either by folding in half or ripping into two ‘wing’ shapes. You can then split the stalk in to two thin strips to form antennae!
3. Floral Upcycling
If you find shaping leaves a bit fiddly, you could always draw around natural forms (such as seed-heads, flowers, acorns, etc) to create beautiful decorative creatures.
For example, below you can see how I have used Pussy Willow as a fluffy body. I then drew wings and antennae on the paper, and voila! A Bumblebee!
Want more? Check out the free activity sheets to download and print at home (listed below) for puzzles, game ideas, creative crafts, and more.
- Fabulous Faberge Eggs
- Tree-mendous Easter Wreath
- Easter Eggs for Nature
- Make Your Own Easter Game
- The Fox and the Bunnies Game
- Finds of the Forest Scavenger Hunt
- Egg-cellent Puzzles and Past-times
We would love to see your results so make sure to tag us or use the hashtag #RFSEaster on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook!
Shona’s Recommendations for Further Reading:
Shona McAllister
RFS Intern/Volunteer
Shona has recently joined us as a volunteer and is busy working to produce creative content for our lovely members and supporters. She is passionate about nature, and she throws herself into creative projects, especially ones that inspire sustainability and environmentally friendly artwork. Shona has experience with laser cutting, researching eco-building techniques, and foliage pressing. She also holds a BA in Creative Arts, and can often be found on long walks foraging in the countryside, especially if there is a furry companion available.
You can find more from her on Instagram via @Shonanigans_Insta
