Competition:
We want you to create a piece of art that represents the sights, smells, feels, and sounds of nature. ‘Sensing Nature' is focused around using your senses to try and capture the essence of what connecting to nature means to you.
This can be expressed through any medium (painting, drawing, poem, haiku, photography, videography, music, sculpture, nature collage, dance, and more), so get your creative hats on, and have fun! Be sure to follow our social media for inspiration through out the month and we want to encourage you to share your own work, tagging us and using #SensingNatureArt to be featured!
Connecting with nature is incredibly important for both adults and children, and combined with being active outdoors can offer many physical, mental and cognitive health benefits. We believe in the importance of encouraging young people to connect to nature and be active outdoors to help enhance their understanding of the world they live in, build their confidence, and process and reflect on emotions and experiences. It can also offer a place of quiet reflection or a place to spark curiosity and creativity! Find out more about the benefits of nature for children and young people here.
Prizes:
All participants will be entered in a draw to win numerous prizes, and a grand prize winner will be selected by our panel to receive a £250 voucher for their classroom to Muddy Faces as well as a personal prize of a Fitbit Ace. You can view the full Terms & Conditions here.
To Enter:
This competition will run throughout the entire month of November, 1st-30th
To take part, you must be under the age of 16. You can submit something as an individual or as a group. To enter, please fill out the form below, or email communications@pathsforall.org.uk for submissions over 10MB. All entries must be submitted by an adult or guardian over 18.
Nature Connectedness:
What do you think of when you hear the word nature?
Nature is everything in the world that hasn’t been made by humans. The clouds in the sky, the rain that falls on your face, the trees that sway in the wind, the bees that buzz around in the summer, the plants that grow in the gaps in the concrete, the birds that sing early in the morning. The list is endless.
Nature is all around us. You don’t need to go far to find nature, you just need to slow down and notice. Some people might live near some trees, some people might live near the sea, some people might live near a river or a canal, some people might live near fields or hills, some people might live near a garden with plants and flowers in it. What is the closest bit of nature to where you live? And where is your favourite place in nature?
Nature is really important for many different things. For example, nature, and especially trees, make the air we breathe cleaner and better for us. It’s also important for us to connect more with nature. You can connect with nature in many different ways.
You could use all of your senses to listen to the sound of a stream, feel the sand beneath your feet or feel the bark of a tree, smell the flowers or the pine needles, look at the different coloured leaves in Autumn or notice the different shapes and patterns you can see in nature, and maybe even taste a wild blaeberry or blackberry.
You could do something to care for or help nature, like put out a bird feeder, create a wild area in your garden for insects and wildlife, or help out at a local community garden or park.
You could notice how you feel when you’re outside and interacting with nature. Notice how you feel after walking in a nearby greenspace. Notice how you feel after you’ve used your senses to take in all the natural things around you.
Or you could take a second to appreciate the beauty of nature and what you like about it.
All of these things can help us to feel really good and stay happy and healthy, but they can also help us to appreciate nature and not take it for granted. Sometimes humans don't leave enough space for nature and can negatively affect it, so it’s important that we look out for nature, give it a helping hand, and leave a bit more space for it.
We would like you to connect with nature in any way you want to and create something to show what nature means to you. You can create a piece of art, write a poem, take a photo, create a video, a piece of music or a dance, make a sculpture, or a nature collage, or something else you think of!
We want you to have lots of fun doing this, get a little bit creative, and most importantly get out in, think about, and connect with nature.