Explore your surroundings and create a collage using natural materials that connect you with nature to support emotional wellbeing and mindfulness.
What you’ll need: Picture of yourself that can be photocopied, piece of paper or card either A4 or A3 sized, glue and natural materials that you collect What’s it for? This activity awakens an awareness and appreciation of nature and how we connect with it in a special way. In doing so, we can help to nurture our own mental health and wellbeing in a positive and healthy manner. Check In: Notice how you’re feeling right now. Close your eyes and notice what’s going on inside your mind and body.
How are you feeling?
What are you thinking?
How does your body feel?
Method:
Before you start, make sure the photo of you is either photocopied (or use the original if you're allowed) or feel free to draw a self-portrait. Leave this to the side to come back to later.
Is there a place within nature that has a particular significance to you? It could be the local park or an area of grassland or forest area
Find time to go here with a key person in your life to explore what nature has to offer
Breathe in the air and notice the things around you
Is there anything in particular that connects you with nature?
Discover textures that could be used in a collage and that you can collect and carry easily - perhaps some colourful leaves or petals
Back at home take the picture you have of yourself and make this the central piece of the collage by sticking it in the middle of the page
In your own time position the natural materials around the picture to produce a creative art piece that represents being 'nurtured by nature'.
When you're happy with the arrangement, glue everything down onto the paper or card
Now that the collage is complete decide where you would like to display this so that you can remind yourself of this special connection and how it makes you feel
Extra Activity: Using music or creative writing express your experience in nature through song, poetry or a story. When you’ve finished, spend a moment reflecting on the activity and ask yourself the following questions:
How did you find spending time outside exploring within nature?
Did you feel mostly positive or negative around nature?
Did you become particularly drawn to certain sounds, smells or textures and what were these?
Did this experience make you feel more connected to nature?
How did it feel putting yourself at the core of the collage before nature surrounded you?
Did this feeling change once the collage was created and the natural materials collected were added to the picture?
Conclusion: Putting your picture at the core of the collage and nature surrounding this puts the emphasis on the environment providing us with positive feelings, increased awareness of our self in association with our senses and therefore an uplifted experience of being nurtured and cared for emotionally and mindfully. Take a moment to notice how you are feeling at the end of this activity. Did you discover anything surprising? What can you take away to make you feel better about yourself from this activity? If you would like to, share something about your experience with this activity with someone you live with! Ask the person who looks after you to send us an email if you have any questions or comments about the activity, or would like to send us any pictures (info@catcorner.co.uk). Don't forget to subscribe for more fun CAT activities! Created by Sarah Kong © January 2022
Creative Arts Used: Art Psychological Areas Explored: Emotional Wellbeing, Self-Exploration and Self-Esteem If you enjoyed this activity, you might also like: Time Capsule Memories: Imagine being able to go back in time and relive important life events and relationships. In this activity, press pause on special moments that you want to reflect on and cherish by making your very own time capsule to store these in. These activities could be done by children of all ages, but some may need the support of their parent or carer to read the instructions or complete the activity safely. This website was made by CAT Corner to help you explore your feelings through fun creative arts activities. The people using the website and the people responsible for them need to make sure they stay safe (full disclaimer on About page).