Outdoor Art explorer

Outdoor Art Explorer Badge is earned to Girl Scout Juniors.

Let nature be your inspiration as you explore, create, and design different kinds of art.

Step 1: Explore outdoor art
Outdoor art—and inspiration for making art of your own—can be found everywhere. Head outside and start exploring!

CHOICES–DO ONE:

Create art inspired by wildlife. Get outside and observe the local wildlife in your area. (From a respectful distance, of course!) Think about the different colors, textures, and body parts that you see. How do these features help each living creature thrive in your environment? Now mix things up! Create an art piece—it could be a painting, a sculpture, or a collage—to show a whole new kind of wildlife that would be well suited to your local environment. Maybe a bullfrog with a wide tail to fan itself during heat waves, or a pigeon that grows a fur coat when it’s cold? The sky’s the limit!

OR

Compare indoor and outdoor performance art. This choice is done in two parts, one at the beginning of the badge and one at the end. At the start of the badge, hold a performance inside—it could be a skit, song, or dance. At the end of your work on this badge, hold the same type of performance outdoors. Use the outdoor space to make some changes to your performance— maybe move around more to fill a larger space or step on rocks to make sure your voice is heard. How did the outdoor experience feel different to you? How did the sound change?

OR

Talk to an artist. There are women artists everywhere, and each one has her own unique story. Talk to an artist you know—she could be an art teacher or even an older Girl Scout who loves to draw or paint—and learn about her artwork. How has her art been influenced by the outdoors? Where does she get her inspiration? After you talk to her, make an art piece of your own that’s inspired by her work.

Step 2: Make something!
Girl Scout Handbook, 1953

OR

Make an impression. Using clay or salt dough, make an outdoor-themed impression. You might collect leaves or shells, or anything that’s unique to the area where you live. Press your found objects into the clay or dough, then remove them and return them to the place where they were found. If you’d like to hang your impression when it’s finished, make a hole at the top for string. (You may need to re-poke the hole a few times as your impression dries to keep it from closing up.) Your impression can be dried in the oven on low heat—ask an adult for help—or outside in the sun on a hot day.

For More FUN: Make your own salt dough!

Salt Dough

Materials:
 * ⚬  3 cups flour
 * ⚬  1 cup salt
 * ⚬  1 cup water (plus up to

1/2 cup extra water,

if needed)
 * ⚬  Food coloring (optional)
 * ⚬  Electric mixer
 * ⚬  Drinking straws

(optional)
 * ⚬  Parchment paper

or aluminum foil

Instructions:

1 Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl.

2 Add 1 cup of water to the flour mix. To make colored dough, add 15 drops of food coloring to the water before mixing it into the dough.

3 Use the electric mixer to mix the dough on medium speed until a ball forms. If the dough is dry, slowly add water (1 tablespoon at a time) until the dough comes together.

4 Remove the dough; knead it until smooth.

5 Form the dough into disks and make your impressions. If you want to hang your finished project, use a straw to poke a hole at the top.

6 With adult help, preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

7 Bake dough pieces on a foil- or parchment paper- lined cookie sheet for 2 hours. Cool completely before handling.

OUTDOOR ART EXPLORER 5

Make a Galaxy Shirt

To make a galaxy shirt, put on some old clothes and head outside—it’s a messy process! Talk to an adult about the best place to make and dry your shirt in order to keep the bleach from getting on anything else.

6

You will need: Spray bleach
 * ★  Two large pieces of plastic (garbage bags will work)
 * ★  A plain black cotton shirt, washed
 * ★  Water
 * ★  Rubber gloves and goggles
 * ★  Bleach
 * ★  Spray bottle
 * ★  White fabric paint (additional colors, like blue, purple, yellow, or fuchsia, are optional)
 * ★  Balled-up small plastic grocery bag
 * ★  Old toothbrush

Dab paint

Make your shirt:

1. Lay your shirt over one piece of plastic on the ground, and put the second piece inside the shirt. This will keep bleach and paint from soaking through to the other side.

2. Mix half water and half bleach in the spray bottle. Be sure to wear rubber gloves and eye protection when mixing and spraying bleach.

3. Spray the bleach mixture onto the shirt. Don’t completely cover the shirt with bleach—you want to keep some areas black. Spray some sections close together and some far apart. If you want, you can twist the

shirt and spray to create a “star cluster.”

4. Once the bleached areas turn a reddish color (it will probably take 5 or 10 minutes), rinse the shirt in cold water and dry it. You can put it in the dryer or let it dry in the sun.

5. Lightly dab paint with a balled-up plastic bag and apply it to the edges of the bleached spots on your shirt. If you are using colors other than white, start with the darker colors (blue and purple), then add the lighter colors like teal and fuchsia.

6. Once the paint is on the shirt, spray the shirt with water and use a balled-up plastic bag to lighten and blur the paint.

7. Add your “stars” by dipping the toothbrush into white paint, then bending the bristles back to flick paint on to the shirt. You might want to practice this on a piece of paper first, to get the hang of it.

8. Let your shirt dry flat for 72 hours. Follow the instructions on your fabric paint for washing.

Note: This will work on any dark clothing—if you’d rather make leggings, a scarf, or a dress, go for it!

OUTDOOR ART EXPLORER 7

Spatter stars

Step 3: Find music in nature
For as long as musicians have been making music, they’ve been finding inspiration in the outdoors. Combine music and the outdoors in this step.

CHOICES–DO ONE:

Sing outdoors. Girl Scouts have been singing songs outdoors for more than 100 years. Learn a new song with your Girl Scout friends and sing it in a round. It can be any song you want— you can even try it with your favorite popular song. Some songs will work better in rounds than others, so you might need to go through a few to find one you like. Go on a walk with some friends, and try playing follow the leader: Change the speed of the song to match the leader’s walking pace.

For More FUN: Change the words of a popular song to make it into a hiking song.

OR

Make rainy day music. The next time there’s a rainy day where you live, take some time to really listen to it. How do the sounds change as the rain gets heavier and lighter throughout the day? If it’s a thunderstorm, how does it sound different as the storm gets closer and farther away? Then try to re- create the sounds of a rainstorm with music. If you play an instrument or like to sing, you can do it on your own. If you want to try it with a group, you might create a “human rain storm.” See Rainy Day Music on this page for more details.

OR

Create “nature’s symphony.” Make music with items you find in nature. You might shake a bag of rocks, wave swishy branches, and blow grass whistles. Come up with your own beat, or set up an outdoor speaker and play along with your favorite songs! When you’re done making music, return the items back to the places where they were found.

Rainy Day Music

For this activity, a group of people sit in a circle, with one person as the leader. The leader starts making sounds, and one by one each person follows the lead of the person on their right. If you’re the leader, you might start like this:

1 Rub your palms together.

2 Snap your fingers.

3 Clap two fingers on the palm of your hand.

4 Clap your hands.

5 Slap your lap or slap the floor.

6 After the sounds get very loud, repeat the activities in reverse as the “storm” dies down.

7 Then slowly stop, until the room is silent.

8

You can make your own “rain stick”—a tube-shaped instrument that sounds like rain when you turn it over— by following these steps.

Materials
 * ⚬  Kraft paper
 * ⚬  Paper tube, like the kind from

wrapping paper or paper towels (the longer the tube, the longer the rain sound)
 * ⚬  Scissors
 * ⚬  Acrylic paint
 * ⚬  Paint brushes

Instructions ⚬ Optional: Paint pen ⚬ Masking tape ⚬ Aluminum foil ⚬ Broom handle or dowel⚬ 1/2 cup rice

⚬ 1/4 cup un-popped popcorn

⚬ Glue stick

1. Wrap kraft paper around the tube and trim it to size with about a 1/2-inch overlap.

2. Paint and decorate the kraft paper.

3. Cover one end of the tube with masking tape.

4. Cut a piece of an aluminum foil that is about 1 and 1/2 times the length of the tube.

5. Crunch the aluminum foil into a long thin shape, then twist it around a broom handle or dowel to form a coil.

6. Remove the coil from the dowel and gently tug it until it is a little longer than the length of the tube. Twist the coil into the tube.

7. Pour the rice and un-popped popcorn into the tube.

8. Put masking tape over the other end of the tube. Double up the masking tape on both ends of the tube to add strength.

9. Lay the tube on the undecorated kraft paper. Add glue to the long edge of the

kraft paper and attach the tube to the paper.

10. Add more glue to the kraft paper and continue rolling until the tube is covered. Let the glue dry completely.

OUTDOOR ART EXPLORER 9

Step 4: Be a nature photographer
Photographers are artists who see the world through the lens of a camera. Head outside with a camera (a cell phone camera works, too—if you don’t have a cell phone, see if you can borrow one) and become a nature photographer!

CHOICES–DO ONE:

Play with light. Find an outdoor space that you love and photograph it at three different times of day. How does the light change the photo? What happens to the shadows? Which photo is your favorite and why?

For More FUN: Photograph your space in three different kinds of weather—maybe sunny, cloudy, and rainy or snowy.

OR

Explore structures. From chicken coops to skyscrapers, human-made structures have to work together with nature. In the Northeastern states and in the mountains of the western United States, homes are built to handle heavy snow on the roof; you’ll find homes designed for tornado safety in the Midwest. Head outdoors to explore buildings and other structures in your area. Take a picture of one structure that you think works well with nature, and one that doesn’t. Get together with your Girl Scout friends to compare your photos and talk about what you found.

OR

Go big and small. Macro means big and micro means small. Try taking macro and micro shots of outdoor objects by zooming in and out with your camera. (Some cameras have macro and micro settings, too.) Take a series of photos where you get closer and closer in on an object until it’s difficult to tell what it is. Share your photos with family or friends—see how long it takes them to guess what’s shown in the pictures.

Step 5: Design with nature
From sculptures to gardens, outdoor art changes the appearance of the environment. Work together with nature to design a piece of outdoor art.

CHOICES–DO ONE:

Design outdoor art. Visit at least one piece of outdoor art in your area. It could be anything from a statue to a mural on a building wall. (If you’re not sure where to find any, public parks are a good place to start.) How does the art change the look of the area around it? Is it something you would have chosen for that space? Sketch or paint a picture of the kind of outdoor art you’d like to see in your community.

For More FUN: Visit the art with your Girl Scout friends, then compare your drawings and paintings when you’re finished.

OR

Design a bird, bat, or owl house. Houses for flying friends are not just useful—they can also be works of art. Design a bird, bat, or owl house that will be a welcome shelter and also add to the beauty of nature.

For More FUN: Build your house!OR

Design a terrarium. A terrarium is a miniature garden inside a container. Sketch or paint a design for a terrarium that reminds you of your favorite outdoor space.

For More FUN: Bring your sketch or painting to life by making your terrarium. Try upcycling a

container that’s no longer being used, like a clear bottle or Mason jar. Upcycling

means finding a new way to use an object so it’s not thrown away.

Additional Resources
https://www.kansasgirlscouts.org/content/dam/kansasgirlscouts/documents/Junior%20-%20Outdoor%20Art%20badge.pdf