DIY Nature Slides & a Few Ways to Use Them

Ah, the first blooms of Spring! Y had me nap trapped in the car on Friday morning, but as I drove by a local produce shop with a huge display of colorful annuals out front, I decided to end his car nap and my own entrapment and pick out some pansies for our play garden. We have a small but workable gardening space in front of our apartment, and while I have definitely bit off more than I could chew in previous years with planting, I've decided to try again this year. S is certainly old enough now to do more work in our garden with less help from me. Rather than taking an "all at once" approach, we are slowly and steadily working on planting--and these pansies were a first small step! They are planted in a small row right in the area where we play and this was intentional! Rather than having the "living" portion of our garden separate from the play portion, I am integrating it. This provides an opportunity for my children to play in an area that is aesthetically pleasing and as alive and vibrant as they are while also encouraging mindful steps and movement. Just as children can learn to be careful not to step on each other, their belongings or other living creatures, they can learn not to trample on the pansies! And if the flowers and plants we are growing are right where we are playing, we will likely not forget to nourish them with water and care.

I've selected seeds and plants this year that I know do well in our yard. The process of planting and growing a garden is just as meaningful as harvesting the product down the line. Pansies are a hearty flower that do well even early in the Spring here. They add a splash of seasonal color that begs me to join them outdoors. And yet, like all living things, those early colors of Spring are temporary. Don't you wish you could somehow preserve them forever? Oh wait, you can! With these simple DIY Nature Slides, you can bring a bit of the outdoors inside for further exploration and appreciation.

You will need:

• a selection of blooms and foliage from outdoors (or even cut flowers indoors) that you wish to observe and preserve
• a laminating machine and laminating sheets (or you can use an office supply store/copy center)

I cut a single bloom from each of our four plants and spaced them out on one laminating sheet before running it through the machine. If you want your flowers to better maintain their detail and last longer, you could press them first either with a flower press or between some paper towels and a stack of heavy books until dried. I cut right to the chase and ran them through as is, applying a bit of pressure with my hands first just to flatten them out a bit.

Nature slides with real pansies paired with some artificial flowers as observed on our light panel

 The results are lovely! You can use your nature slides to observe on a light table or light panel as in this above photo. Nature slides can be made from all types of flowers and foliage and in every season. Imagine the lovely shades of Autumn you could capture in a set of leaf slides or Winter's evergreens...

Even if you do not have a light table, sunlight is a great tool. All you need is a window! Just look at the way these add color, light and inspiration to our Little Gardener's Sensory Bin!




 And speaking of inspiration, imagine all of the ways you might use these nature slides to inspire or become artwork! I hole punched each slide and attached them to a metal ring to keep them together. Stored in our art center, they invite creative little ones to explore their colors and texture through a variety of mediums. We are especially into oil pastels and colored pencils here lately and any medium that can be blended (like watercolor, chalk pastels and paint) would surely be a great one to use.

Pressed and preserved flowers can easily become artwork in and of themselves. You could create lovely Spring bookmarks (what a cute Mother's Day gift) by arranging blooms on a laminating sheet in a long, narrow strip, cutting, punching a hole at the top and stringing through a tassel out of yarn or embroidery floss. You could also make a single sun catcher or set of sun catchers for a loved one's window (or your own, as pictured above by our sensory table).

However you choose to preserve those first blooms of Spring, surely time spent planting the seeds of great memories through play will leave a lasting impression. We'll be back soon and until then...

Happy Playing!