Nature Crafts for Children: 35 step-by-step projects using found and natural materials (CICO Kidz)

Keep your kids’ boredom at bay with 35 environmentally-friendly ideas they’ll love to make.

Designed with the environment in mind, this brilliant collection of craft projects will keep kids entertained for hours. It features decorations, toys, jewelry, gifts, and more, every one of them incorporating natural materials—woodland folk are created from pine cones and seed pods, a length of bark is the base for an animal painting, and a piece of slate is transformed into a pretty brooch or badge. The fun ideas range from bark rubbings for budding artists to herb head flowerpots for junior gardeners and are sure to give kids the creative bug. Best of all, finding the project materials encourages kids to get outside! They can gather shells on the beach to make the shell mice, or collect leaves and twigs on a countryside walk to make a printed fox wall hanging. Even their own backyard will become an exciting source of crafty materials.

Since childhood, Clare Youngs has loved making beautiful handcrafted objects. She studied graphic design and went on to work in packaging for a number of high street stores, including Marks & Spencer and House of Fraser. Clare has since worked in illustration and book jacket design before deciding to turn her attention to craft full time. Her other books include Creative Book Art, The Mindful Maker, and A Year in Crafts, all published by CICO Books. She lives in Kent, UK—see more of her work on Instagram @clareyoungs.