Taking Art Outside

Despite all the lousy weather we've been having this week, I know summer is right around the corner.

Christie Burnett who blogs about child development and play posted a great list of ideas for taking art outside this summer at her blog childhood101. #14 – creating ground art with natural elements - is one intriguing idea I really like.

Collecting natural elements is a great way to get fun textures for sculpting too. Bark, pinecones, twigs and seed pods are all items I’ve used to create different effects in clay. It’s surprising how imprints of natural items can imitate fur, scales or shells on animals.

If you want to take oogly outside, start by having your kids collect natural elements from your yard and then use those found items to explore making textures on the oogly. You might be surprised what oogly inspirations come from the seeing different imprints in the clay.