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Health & Fitness

Outdoor Art: The World is Your Canvas

Try these great ideas for outdoor family art projects!

In my last post I talked about different family painting projects you could do outside.

Outdoor art can be more than just painting, though!

For example, try these ideas:

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  1. Decorate your bikes. Use balloons, streamers, handlebar bling, pipe cleaners and colored straws, faux flowers – whatever you can find. Have a neighborhood parade and judge winners in these categories: best theme, most colorful, most original.
  2. Create a nature collage using sticks, stones, shells, leaves, etc.
  3. Create a nature sculpture using Play-Doh or a hot glue gun.
  4. Create a nature mobile; you may need to drill a hole in some items so they can be hung. Others may just be tied.
  5. Create ground art – use natural elements and make a picture on the ground. Take a picture of the finished work, which can be as big or as small as you like.
  6. Make a pet rock by painting a face on it.
  7. Make leaf rubbings: place some leaves vein-side up on a flat surface. Cover the leaves with paper. Color or pencil over the leaves. You can also roll paint on the leaves with a small roller and make prints on paper.
  8. Take pictures outside with a digital camera. Make a scrapbook, put together a photo essay, or frame the best ones.
  9. Make bird seed ornaments using this recipe (http://www.saltwater-kids.com/2010/12/thrifty-gifts-bird-seed-ornaments-for.html) and a cookie cutter or other mold. (These make great gifts, too!)
  10. Bring a notebook outside and journal your experiences. Draw a map of your hike route. Sketch animals you see. Write a story using things you’ve seen outside.
  11. Just lie back and watch the clouds roll by. What pictures do you seen in the clouds?

 What ideas do you have for outdoor art?

Remember, you can win a limited-edition Summer Daze 2012 t-shirt and an art-related prize in our photo contest. Simply post a photo or photos on our Facebook page (The Warrenville Park District) or send it to me at tomr@warrenvilleparks.org by Sept. 15, 2012. Let’s get creative out there!

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