Whilst we were out in the garden attempting to cool off in the rapidly deflating paddling pool, (is it just us who can’t make a pool last longer then one summer?!), my son got bored. In a bid to entertain him, I suggested we ‘paint’ the shed with water. He looked slightly underwhelmed so I had the idea to make the nature paintbrushes using what we had surrounding us in our garden.

How NOT To Make Nature Paintbrushes

We found a suitable bit of wood, any stick will do as long as it’s not too short, and a frond of conifer for the bristles and I used a length of bindweed to wrap around and around to secure it.

It was rubbish! It wouldn’t paint the water very well at all.

 

When it’s this hot, water is the only thing that makes it bearable! We had a fun morning in the garden, some paddling pool action and then we created ‘nature brushes’ to practise mark making in water on the shed. (Just writing it up for the blog, so simple!) And after his 5.30am start he was tired enough for a nap after lunch! 😴😴😴 Hope you’re having a lovely day too! #pinklinker

A post shared by Louise Pink Pear Bear (@pinkpearbear) on Jun 21, 2017 at 5:53am PDT

What Materials Can I Use To Make Natural Paint Brushes

So I unwound the bindweed and we searched for something else. A feather was next, I had high hopes for this one!

I re-wrapped the bindweed around and we tried again. It was better but the lines it made were not as sharp as I’d hoped.

Finally he settled on just using a very sharp stick to make some wavy, some zigzag and some ‘roller coaster’ lines. It prompted a great discussion about why we use what we do, and how a quill works better then the other end of the feather because it has a sharp point.

The paint brushes weren’t the most effective but this was a simple, fun and free activity that kept my four year old energiser bunny occupied for a good half an hour. Win! If you want to spend more time outside and need ideas for making your garden family friendly, check out this post from Lisa’s Notebook.