Nature Painting with Plants

By Meagan Rose Wilson |  |

Butterfly on a flower
Children playing in a meadow
Little girl playing in a meadow
Child using a mortar and pestle
Child using a mortar and pestle
Leaves in a cup for grinding to paint with
Child using a mortar and pestle
Straining liquid to paint with
Straining liquid to paint with
Child painting with colors from plants
Child painting with colors from plants

We took plants and flowers from a little hike, put them into colour groupings and mashed them one by one in a foil bowl with a pestle with a little bit of water ( I wonder now whether oil might have been more effective?).

Then we strained the coloured juice back into containers and painted on birch bark.

It was a very faint coloured paint, you could add berries, fruits, and veggies perhaps to strengthen it. I think it was more the process that the kids enjoyed than the actual painting at the end.

Meagan Rose Wilson

Meagan Wilson is a parent educator and author of the now-retired seasonal series of Whole Family Rhythms. After finishing a BA, she went on to complete her Foundations in Steiner Education and Anthroposophy at Sydney Steiner College, as well as her Waldorf Early Childhood Certification at the Rudolf Steiner Centre in Toronto. She has received her certification as a Simplicity Parenting Family Life Coach and has supported hundreds of parents to create a strong family rhythm unique to their own values and culture. She has four young children. Meagan provides resources, support and information to parents who are looking for a bridge to cross between their unique family life and their children’s (often but not always) Waldorf schools.

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3 Comments

  1. Rachel on July 24, 2014 at 11:07 pm

    Is it just the plants and water smashed with a mortar and pestle type of thing?

    Reply
  2. Meagan on July 25, 2014 at 6:36 am

    Hi Rachel, yes, sorry I meant to add a few instructions in the comments. We took plants and flowers from a little hike, put them into colour groupings and mashed them one by one in a foil bowl with a pestle with a little bit of water ( I wonder now whether oil might have been more effective?). Then strained the coloured juice back into containers and painted on birch bark. It’s a very faint coloured paint, you could add berries, fruits, and veggies perhaps to strengthen it. But it was more the process that the kids enjoyed than the actual painting at the end. X

    Reply
  3. Katie at My Sweet Homsechool on August 5, 2014 at 1:09 am

    I love the act of using items from nature in our play and in our crafting. So many wonderful ways to create color from nature for different paints and even fabric dyes! Thank you for sharing these photographs; they are just lovely!

    Reply

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