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Nature Escapes for Kids: Healing Forest Art Walk

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A young student making forest art in Rushton Woods. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. ”

Pablo Picasso

You may have heard of healing forests around the world, especially in countries like South Korea and Japan, that are designated as places for people to find calm, balance, and rejuvenation.  There is abundant research that supports the many benefits of nature to our wellbeing: relieving anxiety, depression, and stress while boosting our immune systems, productivity, and even sleep.  Walking has all of these benefits as well; one study found that adults who walked for 30 minutes five times a week had more energy to get through the day, felt healthier, and were more confident than people who walked less frequently.

An Abington Friends student enjoying a woodland walk at Rushton Woods Preserve last fall. Photo by Blake Goll

Now imagine combining the super therapies of nature and walking with art!  Art is healing in its own way because it connects us to something deep within our soul.  A Healing Forest Art Walk is therefore beneficial to both children and adults.  I found this fantastic activity from HealingForest.org, which I encourage you to visit for more ideas and extensions of this.

The Healing Forest Art Walk starts with a quiet walk in the woods.  There are many nature preserves in our area (including our own Rushton Woods Preserve and Ashbridge Preserve) with trails that bring you through wooded areas.  This quiet walk encourages the release of the executive network of the brain (the part that is overworked as kids sit in front of screens doing school work or as you feverishly answer email after email).  Once that part of the mind is relaxed, the rest of it is free to wander here and there with all senses and emotions present and engaged.

Blake with Rushton Nature Keepers in the woods of Ashbridge Preserve.

Now find a spot with a nice open section of forest floor.  With a partner, spend 5 minutes exploring the vicinity and collecting 5 items each (so you’ll have 10 total).  As with building toad abodes, the main rule is to only collect what has already fallen or about to fall. Reconvene with your partner and spend 5-10 minutes creating nature art with your found items.  Once finished, everyone goes on a “gallery walk” to visit each pair’s artwork; you can guess what the artist had in mind and then hear the artist’s interpretation.

Children creating nature art at Rushton Woods Preserve. Photo by Blake Goll
Beautiful fungi on the forest floor of Rushton Woods Preserve: an example of what NOT to collect for nature art. Photo by Blake Goll
Nature art: an owl made of leaves. Photo by Blake Goll

This activity can easily be done with only one child as well, in which case it’s fun to have them create their own forest friend.  Whooo would not enjoy this?

I will leave you with some quotes about art to help get your child’s (or your) creativity flowing:

“Art is not what you see but what you make others see.” – Edgar Degas

 “The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration.” – Claude Monet

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” – Pablo Picasso

Rushton Nature Keepers

Blake manages our Rushton Nature Keepers (RNK) club for children ages 7-11. Through year-round programs covering four conservation themes (birds and wildlife, regenerative farming, healthy habitat, and watersheds), RNK provides children with unique opportunities to develop a meaningful life-long relationship with nature. Although things are subject to change regarding Covid-19, we plan to resume children’s activities on May 2nd.  Click here for the schedule of RNK programs and membership information.



Nature Escapes for Kids: Building Toad Abodes and Heart Space

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A Rushton Nature Keeper shows off a baby toad he found at Rushton Woods Preserve last summer. Photo by Blake Goll/Staff

I first learned of this whimsical nature activity (building toad abodes) while I was living in the wilderness of Central Pennsylvania soon after college, training as an environmental education intern at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center. Our soft-spoken instructor always took us through training activities as though we were children ourselves, which helped to get us in the mindset of seeing the world through the eyes of a child. Only in this mindset can you understand what makes these little people tick, what ignites their imagination, and what sparks those seemingly small moments to burn into their memories forever.

A toad abode. Photo by Blake Goll

So there I was curiously scrambling and scuffling about the crisp brown bed of cool soil, fragrant dried needles, and damp green moss beneath the shade of the giant hemlocks . My fellow interns and I each worked our own patch of the forest floor, collecting bits of bark, twigs, pine cones, stones, and fallen leaves —anything that could be used to build the foundation of our own sturdy toad abode.  Then came the interior design aspect because it only took a small stretch of the imagination to surmise that toads are discerning creatures with particular aesthetic tastes.  A shimmering found butterfly wing might become a welcome doormat, or a fern frond might act as a cozy curtain.

As you can probably guess, a child can be entertained by this activity for quite a long time.  And just as I look back fondly on that time with the forest floor of Central Pennsylvania, so too may your child remember their toad abode building fun.  The best part about it is its simplicity; the core of this activity is really a tactile connection to nature.  All you need is a patch of earth (in the woods, your yard, or a nature preserve) and a fertile imagination.  The only rule is that you try to avoid picking mushrooms or plants from the earth. (Focus instead on items already at rest.) 


A Rushton Nature Keeper building a toad abode. Photo by Blake Goll


A Rushton Nature Keeper building a toad abode. Photo by Blake Goll

You can extend this activity from one simple toad abode to a whole village or even focus on houses for fairies instead of toads.  The details are not important.  This kind of free play in nature as a child is what fosters critical thinking, creativity, empathy, and mental health as adults.  In doing something as simple as building a place for a toad to rest his head, a child is actually creating a healing space in his/her heart to return to as an adult.

Children playing under a pine tree. Photo by Blake Goll

Rushton Nature Keepers

Blake manages our Rushton Nature Keepers (RNK) club for children ages 7-11. Through year-round programs covering four conservation themes (birds and wildlife, regenerative farming, healthy habitat, and watersheds), RNK provides children with unique opportunities to develop a meaningful life-long relationship with nature. Although things are subject to change regarding Covid-19, we plan to resume children’s activities on May 2nd.  Click here for the schedule of RNK programs and membership information.