"Spring Into Creativity" Article 4 by Janine Georgiou-Zeck

There might be a few snow days yet but we are in the spring finally and the earth where we stand is starting to breath the fresh breath of life. This is a wonderful time of inspiration. New eyes to the earth will be fascinated by all that moves and grows as the garden and the parks start to come into blossom.  Having  “Jasper” who just turned one on the first day of spring, I am so excited about what his little eyes will see on our walks. He stares and absorbs the newness, not just of spring but of this new world he has become a part of.  Our children can give us new eyes to see the beauty around us. 

On good weather days, this is the perfect time to go out and draw natures beginnings. Just a sketch pad and pencils will suffice for the trip. This is a good time to go  for a walk to the park and sketch what is left from last fall, that the melting snow reveals. These will be the before sketches. If the trip is made every Two  weeks, especially in the spring the children can identify developments. 

  They will observe and document what they discover. By the time summer is here they might have the transition of a few different plants or trees documented in sketches. You could have one small pad for each plant they want to investigate.  They could make notes or you could help them make notes at the bottom of the page describing what they see and predicting the next stage of development.

   

 At the age of one Jasper will probably get as much out of me walking along and describing what I see, while encouraging him to touch nature, as those who can begin to sketch it. Enjoy the beautiful gifts this time of year can offer you!