Nature Journal Notes

​One fun one way to document the type of greenery that’s present in an area during a specific time of year is to create a collage of leaves, sticks and any small pieces of nature you can find that you’d like to save! To create a collage, you’ll need some kind of glue or tape to hold your pieces together and, of course, whatever material you find that you would like to collage with! Just as with anything in our nature journals, there are all sorts of ways to go about creating your collage and all of them will work. 

​Before you create your collage, make a list of what materials you were able to find, where you found them and the date. You can add any other notes and observations about where your objects were found, if they were surprising to you, or if you have any questions about the objects. Can you identify everything that you found? Do your materials remind you of other things?

Once you’ve made a list of your collected materials, it’s time to make a collage! One fun way to use materials to create a collage is to make a picture  or a scene of something else. You can get inspiration from your collection and use them to create objects that they remind you of. You can also create a collage based on patterns you see in your collected objects. Group together materials with the same colors, shapes or patterns and see where that takes you. Not interested in finding patterns or creating scenes? No problem! You can paste or tape your findings in any way you wish.

Leaves being used to create a tree scene

Leaves used to create an animal

Leaves collaged in a kaleidoscope-like fashion

​Additionally, you can play with the idea of creating a mixed media collage! A mixed media collage is when you use different types of mediums/materials to create an image. Adding watercolors, colored pencils, pens or anything else to your collage will add all sorts of depth and texture! You can also add notes about your collected items onto the collage if you wish!

Can't get outside? Turn to magazines and newspapers! Look for images of plants or animals and use them to create a nature inspired collage. 

Nature journals are a great deal of fun because of how versatile they are. You can swap between making very meticulous, detailed observations and creating more abstract journal entries. No matter what kinds of entries you choose to create, make sure you’re always having fun with them! If you would like to share any of your journal entries with the NRT, please email them to education.nrt@gmail.com we would love to see your work!