Make Nutty Nature People

Dive into nature by crafting little creatures out of nature's own offerings. These nature people will take on their own personalities depending on the materials used and the clothes added. With your child, collect some nuts in their shells from the outdoors or the grocery store, and then watch his imagination run free!

What You Need:

• Assorted nuts in the shell: filberts (also called hazelnuts), acorns, walnuts, etc. pine cones, nut casings, acorn caps, etc.
• Tacky glue (or hot glue gun)
• Bits of wool
• Felt for clothing
• Scissors
• Black felt pen

What to Do:

1. Have your child select two nuts, pine cones, or other natural materials and glue one on top of the other to make a head and body. He should position them according to the ”character” that he wants to create. For example, filberts—or hazelnuts—have pointy ends that make a nice face. Some nuts have flat tops that are good places to attach heads. Acorn ”tops” make good caps. Some pine cones have flat bottoms; these make good bodies.
2. Encourage him to add a scarf, hat, shirt, or cloak by attaching small bits of felt.
3. Next, have him use a felt pen to add dots for eyes, but make sure he doesn't draw on all the features. Leave that to his imagination!
4. He can play with his nature people in the sand box, imagining that they are in little towns or other scenes. Encourage him to collect props to make the scenes more realistic. The more creative he gets, the better!

These nature people are also delightful when peeking out of a table's centerpiece!