Who is a better at encouraging creativity than Mother Nature herself? Throughout my school years we were to make numerous herbariums during Spring and Autumn. We collected leaves, grass, flowers, petals. We made and decorated scrap books for herbariums and stitched or glued the collections there. Sometimes we had to do some observations and write journals.

Collecting leaves and flowers is very natural for children. Children bring home everything they find: sticks, rocks, sometimes live insects! Parents often meet these findings with a grumble and when the children can’t see, off all goes into the dust bin or back to the nature! I would know – I “fought the battles” forgetting I was a child once upon a time and brought home the same things!

So once I remembers, we turned these findings into a game and started making herbariums. Where we live the area is rich with various trees and flowers all year around.

Collecting pieces for herbarium is a supervised activity and it is also a naming activity which helps children with their language development!

Few tips for your herbariums:

1. Dry the pieces thoroughly before or after you place them on a paper or in a scrapebook.

2. Use quick-drying glue if you use dry pieces.

3. Laminating or using contact paper will help preserving your herbarium for a long time!

Enjoy getting in touch with Nature and thank you for reading my blog!