Little nature gardens
We made these little nature gardens on a nature walk one day: I took the kids out to look for cool nature stuff (pine cones, moss, stones...) and then we created these little "texture gardens" - tiny gardens in pots with different textures from nature.
This was a great outdoor and creative activity. And now we have these cute little nature pots on display at home.
If you make these gardens with soil (i.e. fill your pot with soil before you put your nature pieces in), then you can water it and give it sunlight and it will stay alive. Or you can keep it outside and let the rain water it for you.
I think the coolest thing about this nature activity is all the different textures you can find out in nature: smooth, rough, pointy, hard, squishy.... It's a great sensory activity and, let's be honest, I like poking around at all the bits of nature as much as the kids do!
Materials
- a pot (large or small, depending on how big you want your garden to be) or a shallow container that has edges big enough to hold soil and water
- some soil and/or wood chips to fill the bottom
- nature things to build your garden with
Things to collect for your little nature gardens:
- moss
- leaves (evergreen leaves are especially good for this activity)
- stones
- pine cones
- sticks
- acorns
- tree bark
- wood chips
How to Make a Little Nature Garden
These little gardens are super simple to make.
- Get a pot or planter - any size will do. You can use an actual flower pot, or you can use any sort of shallow container, as long as it has edges to hold in the soil and water.
- Add a layer of rocks or wood chips at the bottom for drainage.
- Fill your pot with soil.
- Add patches of different textures to your garden. If you can find different kinds of moss, you'll have a little garden that you can keep alive with water and sunlight. You can also add branches and leaves (evergreen leaves work great - they will eventually dry out, though). Add pine cones, acorns, stones, etc.
- If you planted a moss garden, give it a little bit of water every now and then (or keep it outside) and make sure it has sunlight.
We made tiny versions of these, since I have these little flower pots lying around in a craft drawer.
Later in the spring, we plan on going out on a nature walk again and making a big nature garden in a much bigger pot, and keeping it out on the back deck.
Rebecca is a chaplain at a girls’ school, a mom to boys, and a crafter of all things. She crochets in every free moment she has, and she spends much of her time gluing cotton balls to toilet paper rolls and mopping up glitter.
