Montessori Mom

Earth Day and Folk Art — Celebrating Culture Through Nature

...e, e, e the earth sound, E makes an Earth Day sound!

Enjoy your culture on Earth Day!

I always put Earth Day and folk art together — folk art comes from the Earth. We look at nature and take something from it and creatively make it ours. A bird singing becomes a new tune for a song. A fallen branch is made into a beautiful carved object. A piece of refuse becomes a new creation of use and beauty. This art comes from the soul of a person. It is a way to uniquely express ourselves. Every culture has a form of folk art — music, dancing, and poetry.

A Memory from Norway

My introduction to folk art came as a child visiting relatives at their farm in Norway during haying season. Everyone was so excited and happy to work in the fields. The entire family helped dry the hay on homemade wooden racks. I was surprised at how adept my aunts were at picking up hay with wooden pitchforks!

I vividly remember the rhythmic songs my relatives sang as they worked. My mother told me they were very old folk songs. Some of my aunts would do a little folk dancing, weaving in and out of the drying racks. It was such a joyful working experience.

I observed that my Norwegian family made much of their own equipment, did Rosemaling (decorative Norwegian painting) on their cupboards and dishes, and carved beautiful wooden doors and shutters. Whoever played a musical instrument — from a harmonica to a guitar — would play while everyone sang. My family even sang their prayers.

Recommended Materials

• 4M Green Creativity Pressed Flower Art Kit — Collect flowers from your garden and press them into beautiful cards, bookmarks, and trinket boxes. Includes a flower press, glue, brush, and double-sided tape. Ages 5+. A perfect Earth Day activity!
• 4M STEAM Green Paper Crafts Kit — Make recycled paper and pressed flower art. An eco-friendly craft kit that teaches sustainability through creative activities. Ages 5+.

What Is Folk Art?

Folk art is different from fine art because it comes from the common folk — ordinary people expressing their creativity through the materials around them. It can be:

• Visual art: Painting, carving, weaving, pottery, quilting
• Music: Folk songs, work songs, lullabies, instruments made from natural materials
• Dance: Traditional dances passed down through generations
• Crafts: Handwork, woodworking, decoupage, embroidery
• Poetry and storytelling: Oral traditions, rhymes, and tales

Discussion with your child: What folk art traditions does your family have? Does anyone in your family sing, play music, paint, garden, or make things by hand? These are all forms of folk art!

Activity 1: Hand Print Earth Art

Create a beautiful Earth using your child's hand prints — a classic Earth Day craft.

What you need:

• A large piece of white paper or poster board
• Blue and green washable paint
• A paper plate for a paint palette

Steps:

1. Draw a large circle on the paper (trace a plate or bowl)
2. Dip one hand in blue paint and press inside the circle for the oceans
3. Dip the other hand in green paint and press for the continents
4. Fill the circle with hand prints to make a complete Earth!

This connects to our Land and Water Forms lesson — can your child identify the continents in their hand print Earth?

Activity 2: Pressed Flower Art

Collecting and pressing flowers and leaves is a wonderful way to combine nature study with art.

Simple flower pressing method:

1. Collect flowers, leaves, and grasses from your garden (ask permission first!)
2. Place them between two sheets of wax paper
3. Tuck inside a heavy book
4. Wait 1-2 weeks until completely flat and dry
5. Use the pressed flowers to make cards, bookmarks, or frame as artwork

Science connection: While collecting, talk about the parts of a flower (petals, stamen, pistil, sepal), why flowers have different colors, and which insects visit which flowers.

Activity 3: Decoupage — Folk Art for Kids' Furniture

Turn your child's artwork into permanent decorations for their furniture or wooden objects!

What you need:

• Your child's drawings or paintings
• A wooden object (a small box, picture frame, or piece of furniture)
• Mod Podge or white glue mixed with a little water
• A brush
• Sandpaper (for smoothing edges)

Steps:

1. Sand the edges of your child's art piece
2. Apply a thin layer of glue to the wooden surface
3. Press the artwork onto the surface, smoothing out bubbles
4. Apply another layer of glue over the top
5. Let dry completely — your child's art is now a permanent decoration!

This is inspired by the Norwegian tradition of Rosemaling — decorative painting on furniture and household objects.

Activity 4: Nature Music

Folk music often uses sounds and instruments inspired by nature. Create your own nature band!

• Rhythm sticks: Find two sticks and tap them together for percussion
• Shakers: Fill a sealed container with dried beans or rice
• Rain stick: Fill a paper towel tube with rice, seal both ends, and slowly tip — it sounds like rain!
• Singing: Make up a simple song about something in nature — a bird, a tree, the wind

Just like my Norwegian relatives sang while working in the hay fields, children can sing while they garden, clean, or create art. Work songs are one of the oldest forms of folk music!

Earth Day Connections

Earth Day (April 22) is a perfect time to celebrate the connection between nature, culture, and creativity:

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Folk art is the original recycling — turning scraps and found objects into beautiful creations
• Nature walks: Collect fallen leaves, flowers, interesting rocks, and sticks for art projects (never pick living plants without permission!)
• Gratitude: Talk about what the Earth gives us — food, water, beauty, materials for art
• Stewardship: Discuss how we take care of the Earth so it can continue to provide for us

See also: Lesson 31: Sprouts and Grow It Again for gardening activities that connect to Earth Day, and Lesson 29: Nature Studies for observing wildlife in your backyard.

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