Introduction

Creativity can blossom outside the confines of four walls or a screen - literally thinking outside the box!

Let nature be the inspiration - the weather, the sky, the plants and trees and landscape around you, the noises or the quiet.

Manipulate and investigate natural materials while creating with them - feel the bark against your finger tips, gently hold a flower without crushing the petals, get berry juice on your hands, smell the earth, hear leaves rustling.

Use arts and crafts activities to create beautiful objects, but don't judge them for their beauty, judge them for the senses and the process.

Use arts and crafts activities as a vehicle for discussions, about what you are doing and how it makes you feel, or about anything and everything else - making in a group, concentrating and focussing, can allow conversation to ebb and flow and follow its own course.

Create poems and stories inspired by what you see around you, or what might happen when you are not there - create your own myths and folklore attached to your own special site. Perform for your friends.

Find the music! What sounds is nature making? What sounds can you make using the materials around you? What are the different qualities of the sounds, how do they resonate? Can you sing the bird's songs?

Let nature guide your creativity and embrace the joy of art and creating outdoors!