With spring here, there are many things to observe in nature. This activity is designed to be relaxing and restorative for residents and can be done as a group activity, a self-guided activity, or a one-on-one activity.

‍Materials:

• Any kind of drawing or copy paper 
• Pens, pencils, paints, colored pencils, markers, whatever you have
• Stickers and other sticky materials to create small flowers or berries 

Instructions:

• Ask your residents to sit by a window and observe what is in view. Ask them what they see and what is most beautiful to look at. 
• After looking for a while, ask them to choose a piece of nature, such as a tree or shrub that they like the shape of. 
• Place the piece of paper on the window so you can see the outline of the tree through the paper. 
• With their pencil or marker, encourage them to start following the shape of the tree all around as if they were touching the tree with the pen / marker. Encourage them to make it big enough to fill a good part of the paper and to colour in the tree trunk or shrub if they’d like.
• Then, encourage them to get creative by drawing organically: flowers, petals, berries, leaves. They can also create flowers with other materials such as stickers.