Hi campers and families! Here at Batawa Summer Adventure Camp, one of our core values is to be mindful of the environment. We practice this every year by limiting the amount of waste we produce, find natural alternatives whenever possible, and connect with nature every day. We are so lucky to be located in such a rich environment with a vast array of plants, animals, & wildlife and we work hard to protect it. So many of our counselors and campers' fondest memories at camp are from things that happened on a bike ride, a hike, or at the Dino Dig area.

Although we can’t get to experience our love for nature together this summer, we would like to give you a painting activity you can try at home with all natural materials. The best part is, you might have all the materials that you need in your kitchen or backyard!

First, to kick off our masterpieces we are going to make natural paintbrushes. These are so cool! We went for a short walk and collected some sticks for the brush handle and then a variety of things we found in the forest such as needles, grass, and flowers. The challenge is to try and only collect things that are on the ground- we want to disturb as little as possible. Remember to look out for potential dangers in your surroundings.

**Collecting sticks, leaves, and grass.**

After we finished collecting, we then tied it to one end of a stick with a natural twine. Tip: double knot the twine to make sure you don’t lose your bristles when you start to paint.

Now comes the really fun part. Because this is a natural project, we decided to create our own watercolour paints. Kids (and kids at heart) will be so excited to help with this process. Below is a list of the plant-based materials we used and what colours they make:

Spinach- Green
Turmeric- Yellowish Orange
Charcoal- Black
Cocoa Powder- Brown
Raspberries- Red
Blueberries- Bluish Purple
Smoked Paprika- Deep Red

**Look at those colours- they are so bright!**

There are many more plants you can use to make different colours and shades, these were just the things we had on hand to utilize for this project. Our Raw Beauty has a fantastic “D.I.Y. Natural Watercolour Paints” video at this link that is much more detailed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNSVTkw1dhk. We also learned though that just because a plant looks a certain shade on the outside doesn’t mean it will look exactly the same when you extract the pigment from it.

Here are the pictures we painted. We were really surprised with how bright the colours were after it dried! Of course you can use regular paint brushes if you have some at home.

Note: Once you’re done with your natural paint brush, you can disassemble it and put the items back where you found them to decompose.