Celebrate Mother’s Day with Mother Nature.  Collect colors and shapes found in nature to create a special portrait for mom’s special day.
 

What You Need: 

• Paper  
• Glue 
• Items found in nature such as leaves, flowers, sticks, rocks, etc. 

What You Do: 

1. Go for a walk around your yard, park, garden or neighborhood and collect a basket of leaves, acorns, flowers, sticks, etc. 
2. Think about someone you want to create in a portrait. 
3. Thinking of that person, look for shapes in nature that are similar to your subject’s face and hair.   
4. Arrange items you’ve found in nature to look like your subject. 
5. Glue onto paper and let dry. 

Words to Use: 

• Portrait- a painting, drawing, or photograph of a person 
• Self-Portrait- a drawing, painting, or description that you do of yourself 
• Subject- the thing or person that you show when you paint a picture, take a photograph etc. 
• Arrange- to put a group of things or people in a particular order or position 
• Composition - the way in which the different parts that make up a photograph or picture are arranged 

What to talk about: 

• What shape do see when you look at eyes?  Nose?  Mouth? 
• Where is my nose?  Eyes?  Mouth?  Where are yours? 
• What shapes do you see in your natural items?  How are they similar to parts of a face? 
• What textures and colors do you find in nature? 

Change It Up:  

• Use a paper plate or draw an oval for younger children.  You can make little marks for eyes, nose and mouth to help guide them around parts of the face. 
• Pull out a mirror and try self-portraits. 
• Encourage older kids to dig deeper and create layers. 

Learning Connections:  

• Creativity 
• Imagination 
• Visual-Spatial Thinking 
• Fine Motor Development 
• Connecting with Nature 

Curriculum Connections:
NC Standard Course of Study 

• Visual Art: K.V.2..3, K.V.3.2, K.CX.1.5, 1.V.2.3, 2.V1.2, 2.V.2.3 
• Math: NC.K.G.1, NC.K.G.2, NC.K.G.3, NC.1.G1