Children’s Nature Art

Children’s Nature Art sessions with Sue van Coppenhagen and Shia Tremayne –  2pm to 4pm in the gardens or stableyard of Bantry House, half hour sessions with each artist, including flower pounding and creative adventures with leaves and paint. For 6 to 12 year olds. Free. No booking – turn up and be allocated a place, with activities available while you wait. 

Plan a family afternoon out ‘near to nature’ in the gardens of Bantry House. Come to the welcome table to book places for your 6 to 12 years olds in free nature arts sessions with two artists / arts facilitators. As a family, follow a Tree Trail, go on a Moss Hunt, and maybe reward yourselves with something from the tea rooms.

Each artist is running three half hour sessions.
Flowers and leaf pounding and Tree ID disks sessions with Shia start at 2pm. 2:40pm and 3:20pm for the full age range, 6 to 12 years.
Creative Adventures with Leaves and Paint with Sue has sessions starting at 2pm and 2:40pm for the younger children 6 to 8 years, and a longer session (40 minutes) starting at 3:20pm for the older children 8 to 12 years.
There are ten places in each session, and each artist works with an assistant, so good attention can be given to all the children.
The sessions are free, and this year the places will be allocated on the day - come to the welcome table to sign in and book places.

Shia Tremayne leads two contrasting activities. Flowers and leaves are selected and arranged onto pieces of cloth, covered, and bashed with a stone. Noisy, satisfying, requiring some skill and care, and usually providing surprisingly colourful and detailed results. This is the Festival’s signature children’s nature art activity. The Tree ID disks use quieter observational and drawing skills.

Featuring a wonderful range of leaves, the activities led by Sue van Coppenhagen, explore the properties of wax, water and paint. For younger children, leaves are placed under paper and rubbed with wax crayon to reveal their shapes and vein patterns, or they are dipped in paint and printed. The activities encourage the participants (and parents / accompanying adults in the background) to look more closely at leaves and their features. For older children there may be sponging, spraying, leaf printing and watercolour flow.

Bantry House Gardens are free on the day, the tea rooms are open, and there is a self-guided Tree and Shrub Trail leaflet for the Gardens. You could use the self-guided Moss Hunt and native Twelve Tree Trail on a phone or download/ print off beforehand, see https://ellenhutchins.com/for-kids/

The sessions are held outside under shelters to protect from sun or rain and toilets are available nearby.

This event is a free Ellen Hutchins Festival event and has funding from a Cork County Council Arts Grant, the Bantry Credit Union and the UCC Sustainability Institute.

For information on all Ellen Hutchins Festival events in Heritage Week see
https://ellenhutchins.com/event-listings-2/