Through this activity, every child created a nature-inspired piece of art. They learned art-making techniques such as pottery, watercolour, and wire sculpture. The children were so proud of their creations! They also had opportunity to use their sketchbooks to record the wonderful landscape, birds and animals they encountered during their visit.
Of even greater value, in our opinion, was the children’s opportunity to explore nature at the Leighton Art Centre. As one of our teachers commented, “I was so surprised that many of my students had never seen the mountains before. This was the first time many of them had ever played in a forest. This experience generated many emotions in my kids: from fear, to fascination, to absolute joy!” As a result of this field trip, we have seen a huge increase in our students’ interest in and caring about the natural world. It has spawned a number of inquiries throughout the year: our kids are investigating butterflies and bees, and planting gardens that attract insects, and exploring why grizzly bears are endangered.