Today we started our John Muir Award in primary 4/5. We learned all about who John Muir was and why he is a significant individual. We spoke about his early life and his love for nature. The children were all very excited about getting started and are looking forward to all of the outdoor learning opportunities.

We took the opportunity to explore and discover the natural materials in our playground. We spoke about Andy Goldsworthy who is an environmental artist and looked at examples of his work. The children were able to identify the natural materials in each of his sculptures. The boys and girls then split into pairs and threes to work on an art challenge outdoors. We collected natural materials from all over the playground, including sticks, twigs, stones, grass cuttings and leaves. The children then worked collaboratively to create their own outdoor art using the materials they collected. The results were fantastic! We had everything from a reindeer to a football pitch, have a look at the pictures below to see the creations! Back in class we discussed the skills we have used today and decided the main focus was creativity and teamwork.

Collecting and creating:

Our finished artwork: