My local area seems to be ablaze with yellow right now. From daffodils peeking through garden beds to wattles in bloom on roadsides. From juicy lemons ripening on the tree to the vast fields of golden canola brightening the countryside. Even the clumps of weeds invading my garden are a gorgeous yellow – hello dandelions and sour grass, you pesky, pretty things!

These pops of yellow feel uplifting. Many of us have the same response to other bright colours in nature, and we can use this good vibe to get creative. Have you ever used something from nature as a drawing prompt for your child?

Next time you’re in the garden or out on a walk, pick something abundant and cheerful to take home… a sprig of wattle, a geranium, a stem of bottle brush, even gum leaves. Once home, offer it to your child with matching coloured art materials. Think of this project not so much as a way to make an accurate drawing of the plant, but an opportunity to draw in response to the colours and shapes they see before them. This takes the pressure off!

Below I give you some simple directions of what I mean, using a sprig of wattle as a drawing prompt:

Wattle art

• a sprig of wattle

• a selection of art materials in yellows & greens (eg paints, pastels, crayons chalks, textas, pencils)

• paper

Have a look together, and chat with your child about the shapes you see

• the stems are long

• the leaves are oval (or long, or spikey)

• the blossoms are round (or long)

• how many blossoms can you count?

• how to they feel to the touch?

• how do they join onto the stem?
  

Ask your child how they might create these shapes on the page with the materials they have

• dots, circles or balls for blossoms

• lines for stems

• thick lines or shapes for leaves

This simple activity becomes an exercise in looking, appreciating and translating nature into art. Observational drawing such as this encourages mindfulness, and is easily tweaked to suit your child’s age and stage, or whatever flowers or foliage you have to work with.

Drawing from something you have on the table in front of you is a great way for your child to get marks down on a page. Use it as a platform to weave some cool words into your conversations with your child, describing colours, shapes and forms. And most importantly, have fun together xx