Throughout my childhood I had the great pleasure of many beach holidays and farm holidays with friends and extended family. By ‘pleasure’ of course I mean that I was taken on amazing holidays and had heaps of fun swimming in the ocean and exploring the bush, but yet somehow (as all kids are want to do) still managed to get bored and complain about how there was ‘nothing to do’.
One activity I remember my Mum pulling out to encouraged us to keep us entertained was holiday scavenger collaging. One holiday, when we were inexplicably getting bored, she sent us out to the beach to collect whatever we thought looked interesting: shells, seaweed, sand. Once the scavenging was over, we sat around pieces of paper and taped all of our collected items down to create a visual and tactile memento of our holiday. It didn’t take too long for the seaweed to start smelling funny so the artworks didn’t make it home, but the exercise really taught me to explore and appreciate the places we visited on holidays.
If you are spending some of your Christmas away on holidays, at the beach or in the country, why not do something similar yourself? Take some scrap paper, scissors and packing tape away with you and let your kids loose one day to scavenge for the other art supplies. Maybe they could make a picture of the place they scavenged in? Maybe they could make a Christmas picture with the things they found?
No kids? Adults can play too. Take an opportunity to savour the place you are visiting, create something with the things that you find, and reflect on the strange mystery of how our creator became a part of his creation.
You Will Need
- Paper
- Tape (or PVA glue if you want a cleanly finished artwork and don’t mind the mess)
- Foraged nature
(Remember: You are not allowed to scavenge for plants in national parks. Take only photographs, leave only footprints!)
If you aren’t going away for the summer, the luxury of having access to all your stationery supplies opens us an even more exciting version of holiday scavenging. With contact, cardboard and careful cutting you can turn summer leaves and flowers into some very beautiful sun-catchers.
The Christmas Project 