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Review by Janice Tupple
Ah, summer! The feel-free, enjoy-the-outside, play-in-the-sun time of year. This different arena for kids' energy opens up lots of new options for fun and directed learning. And so does "Nature Crafts" by Lyndsay Milne. Using natural resources and some from the recycling bin, this book is designed to help kids "Have fun with nature!" and it offers "More than 80 great projects!"
Several things make this book a standout for summer. First, it presents new and different projects: a teasel mouse (with a cockle burr head), a scented angel (lavender flowers give fragrance and leaves are wings), and a papier-mache ladybug -- to name a few.
Many more tried-and-true projects in "Nature Crafts" have a new twist in how they're constructed: the eggshell mosaic of a woman's head uses corn silk or coconut fiber for hair; the plaster casts of animal paws are made directly from animal paw prints; and a cardboard-cutout butterfly develops magnetic attractions with coins taped to the underside of its wings. Even longtime favorites such as painting leaf silhouettes, pressing flowers, and making daisy chains are new to first-time crafters.
Lots of illustrations and simple-to-understand text to help with construction. The steps in the process are numbered and drawn in cartoon style while the finished product is photographed -- all in full color. But this is not a Martha-Stewart-makes-it-beautiful craft book. These crafts look like kids made them. The feathers around the Indian headdress aren't exactly straight and even. The potato head faces will never win a beauty contest. This book is for kids, right? Right.
"Nature Crafts" teaches a lot in subtle ways. With the sunflower seed necklace we learn that sunflowers have been grown in Mexico for 3,000 years and their seeds are full of vitamins while their stems are used to make things such as paper and textiles. Information beside the eggshell bird craft tells us about the biggest and the tiniest birds on earth. These almost-afterthoughts make the book especially good for summer camps with environmental emphases. All the tools, equipment and suggestions for "Your nature collection" are listed at the front. The crafts appeal to a wide range of ages. Five- and six-year-olds will certainly be able to enjoy a few of the simpler activities, but most crafts seem more suitable for the seven-to-tens. Since no age range is suggested on the book, an adult may pick an activity with a particular child in mind. On projects where Milne thinks kids will need some help, she starts the instruction with "Ask an adult to help . . ." Besides there's no point in letting those little guys have all the fun. It's summer.
©1997, ProMotion, inc.
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