Our Nature Shelf

Since January we've dedicated a little area in our home where we keep the lovely treasures we find outside and where we celebrate the changing seasons. We call it out nature shelf. Nature spaces like these are commonly found in Montessori and Waldorf classrooms and homes.

Generally, I only allow things found in nature or things handmade with natural materials to be put onto the shelf. Here are some close-ups of the goodies on our shelf.

The wooden mushroom, the frame and card, the silks, and the wooden duck all come from here. I needle felted the "pond" and the flower. That sweet little summer time peg person was handpainted by Beneath the Rowan Tree and purchased through her Etsy store.

We recently participated in an international postcard swap and received this beautiful bit of artwork from a child in Singapore. There's a piece of driftwood James found at the beach and inside the bowl are shells we've found locally, some quartz and amethysts (found at a local shop) and a walnut filled with beeswax, which we made earlier this year. The bowl itself is handmade with recycled paper - I found it at a craft market. That sweet little rainbow kitten was made by Ann of Simply Playing. You can buy one here.

James really enjoys our nature space and I often find him touching the items and rearranging the set up. :) I just love having this area available to him - it's such a rich sensory experience and it opens the door to many happy, curious questions such as, "Why is this rock purple?".

I hope you enjoyed my little tour and I'll do my best to post about our ever-changing nature shelf more often.


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