Children often collect small items like pine cones, twigs, pebbles, shells and seeds. The next time you are out walking together, encourage your child's curiosity. Creating a collage from the found items will allow your child to preserve and display their collection. It is an activity that provides some Comfort, Play & Teach™ time.

You will need:

• Collected items (feathers, seeds, pebbles, twigs etc.)
• The lid from an egg carton or a thick piece of cardboard
• Equal parts of flour and salt
• Water to mix

What to do:

Combine flour and salt and add enough water to make thick collage dough. Spread the dough into the egg carton lid and then press the collected items into it, arranging them as desired. Once complete, allow the dough to harden. The result will be a beautiful work of art made from nature items!

Comfort, Play & Teach™ Message

		Comfort: Enjoy walking outside and noticing nature. Pay attention to the colours, shapes, sizes and kinds of things you see and collect. Collecting items provides wonderful opportunity to spend time together and share your thoughts and observations. What do you like to collect?
		Play: Play an I Spy game while looking for things. What things can you find that are green? Smooth? Come from trees? Once you have collected enough things, have your child look at a small grouping and then cover their eyes while you hide something. See if they can guess what's missing!
		Teach: Collecting items for making a collage is an excellent way for your child to learn many concepts such as colour, shape, size, texture. Ask your child to identify items that are round, brown, rough, small or shiny. See if they use the things they found to create patterns in the dough.

For children aged 3 to 5 years.

Back to Activities.