Valentines Day is a good time to get the kids to make gifts. There's something special about hand made gifts. They may not look as classy as store bought gifts, but they are personal and each piece is unique. When kids make them, each gift will definitely look different!
From historic times people have made gifts using materials from nature such as flowers, leaves, twigs, bark, seeds, natural colors etc. It's a good time to get the child to leave behind online games and get excited about Nature. Here are 3 gifts you could get the kids to try and make using easily available material from the great outdoors:
1. Twig Figurine
The figurine in the image is part of the oldest record of human occupancy in the Grand Canyon. It's supposed to be over 4000 years old. Anthropologists think they were part of the rituals ancient people performed to get the blessings of the spirits of the animals. Making a craft like this one is a great way to get kids interested in both a spot of history and in the variety of things nature offers to make things. Kids can learn about seeing form in twigs, using the strength of grass to tie things down or weave and understanding the nature of materials. All that kids need is collecting twigs, grass or some bark strips.
2. Dried Flower Cards
This craft involves many parts of learning for a child when they go out into the outdoors. They learn about the plant they are collecting, colors, pigments etc. Kids can collect and dry flowers, twigs and leaves. Then they can figure out ways to use them. One of the simplest gifts is to make a dried flower card. People who receive them will happily keep the card for a long time.
Kids like to collect twigs and small branches with or without leaves. They like to drag it on the ground behind them or just run with them waving it in the air. Take one of these gently branching twigs and dry it out well. Ge the kids to clean it up. If you have varnish, use it to give it a nice coat. Get the kids to tie dried leaves, feathers and some empty eggshells (with faces) on the twig. The egg shell can be attached to the thread using glue. Kids might need help tying these things to the twig.
When you wrap it for gifting, make sure the egg shells stay safe. Valentine's Day is a perfect opportunity to gift something hand made - it'll be treasured. Happy Valentine's Day!
