Nature Portraits
Kids are natural collectors. From pebbles to pinecones and especially leaves, their pockets often overflow with little reminders of their outdoor adventures.
This nature portrait craft gives purpose to those leafy finds by transforming them into hair for a custom portrait. Kids will draw their own face on cardboard, then weave leaves through holes above the head to create a wildly creative hairstyle using real foliage.
Not only is this activity open-ended and hands-on, it’s also a great way to practice threading and strengthen fine motor skills.
Read on to see how we did it.
Supplies:
Cardboard
Marker or crayon
Scissors or sharpened pencil (to poke holes)
Freshly collected leaves
Directions:
Draw your face. Use a marker or crayon to draw a large letter “U” in the center of your cardboard. This will form the face. Add two lines down from the bottom to create a neck.
Add facial details. Draw eyes, a nose, mouth, ears—whatever your child imagines! Leave the area above the forehead blank for the leaf “hair.”
Punch the holes. Carefully poke holes into the space above the portrait using scissors or a sharpened pencil. This will be where the leaves are threaded in.
Collect and create. Head outside and gather a variety of leaves. Encourage your child to thread them through the holes to give their portrait a leafy hairstyle.