Invitation to Cut and Create with Herbs
The recent rain and sunshine has filled my yard with yummy smelling herbs! Five years ago I planted two small catnip and lemon balm plants that now grow abundantly throughout my yard. They are fairly invasive just like their cousin mint, however for an art teacher who loves to create with nature I’m excited by their abundance and ability to grow quickly!
This week I brought the children cuttings of both catnip and lemon balm to explore, cut, and create with! This is a great activity for those working on perfecting their cutting skills! Many of the children were fascinated by the fact they could cut a plant just like they would paper!
We discussed each plants smells and how we loved the way lemon balm smells, and in contrast how catnip didn’t smell so great, but cat’s love the way it smells!
During our project many questions, ideas, and discoveries ensued such as……
“Can we eat it?”
“What do cats do with it?”
“Do you cook with it?”
“This is the leaf and this is the stem”
“When I squish the leaf water comes out” (then we discussed where the water came from)
At home play:
If you don’t have herbs at home grass, leafs from trees, and various weeds or wildflowers are great options! It may seem simple but laying a blanket out on the grass and cutting various findings in the yard while creating special “salads” or pieces of art is a fun way to practice those fine motor skills and learn about plants and nature.
