5 outside art projects to do in the school holidays – whatever the weather

School holidays can be stressful for families. Particularly when the enthusiasm of the first few days wears off and kids keep saying “I’m bored, I need the iPad” while refusing point blank to go and play outside.

We are environmental humanities researchers with a focus on education and visual arts. We have been looking at the benefits of creating art with the weather. This can entertain children of all ages, while supporting their creativity and connections with the wider world.

It may also provide some ideas to cope with the school holidays blues in a positive way. You don’t have to wait for a sunny day, either – you can make art in all kinds of weather.

Why make art with the weather?

Our research shows how playful activities can develop children’s understanding of nature and grow environmentally conscious citizens.

Creating art with – not about – weather is a multisensorial experience that immerses children in their local environment.

The activities we suggest produce exciting and unexpected artworks, which can encourage children to slow down and notice what is going on around them.

This can be a prompt not only for identifying how weather impacts their art, but also themselves and other things in the environment.

1. On a cloudy day

Find a nice spot outside, lie on your back and put a piece of A4 paper on your tummy. With a pencil or marker draw the clouds as they move across the sky.

This way of drawing helps you draw what you see, not what you think you see. “Blind contour drawing” (not looking at the paper) also develops hand eye coordination and drawing skills.

This also helps kids develop their conceptual understanding, by encouraging them to think beyond direct representations of objects or images. For example, a cloud may become a series of abstract lines rather than a fluffy thing.

2. On a windy, rainy day

Use water activated pencils (pencils that turn to paint when wet) to make marks on a piece of paper, this could be a drawing of the landscape as you see it. If you don’t have these pencils, you could use basic textas that are water soluble.

Leave the paper outside to be rained on and blown about. Let it dry and then work on it again, adding to the crinkles in the paper and marks made by dirt to create a different type of landscape. Australian Artist John Wolseley uses this technique to better understand “how we dwell and move within the landscape”.

3. On a sunny day

Put a piece of paper on a clipboard and go on a shadow hunt.

Look for interesting shadows cast by plants and place the paper under the shadow and simply trace around the shadows edge.

This shows the shapes of the shapes of leaves, petals and branches and helps develop observational skills.

4. On a still day

Give your eyes a break and connect to your other senses.

Close your eyes and draw what you hear. Listen carefully, how many sounds can you capture on a piece of paper?

Or you could explore what you feel in terms of texture. You can do this by touching something, such as the rough bark of a tree, and drawing with the other.

Or lay a piece of paper over an interesting texture and use a graphite stick on its side (or soft lead pencil) to make a rubbing. German artist Max Ernst used this approach to create his Histoire Naturelle in the 1920s. Like Ernst, you could tear or cut your drawings of textures and collage them together to create creatures, real or imagined.

5. On any kind of day

Make ephemeral drawings on the ground like Scottish artist Andy Goldsworthy (you can see his work in the video below). Use sticks and leaves, feathers and stones anything else you find outside.

This is about using what is already available in the environment.

This activity also provides an opportunity to talk about the beasties that live in the leaf litter and dirt. Using a magnifying glass, kids can get to know the tiny critters that live there and reflect on the importance of not harming them and their homes (such as not stomping on them or poking them with sticks).

So, these school holidays let children have fun making art with weather and explore how these activities can cultivate children’s awe, wonder and care for our planet.