Whenever I visit my grands, we like to do at least one craft project. Since both boys (ages 4 and 6) are fascinated with mushrooms, I decided to focus on a mushroom-centered art project. Last year, two of my other grands, who are a little older, and I made clay mushroom wind chimes. I wanted a project that wouldn’t take as much time as working with modeling clay, and be fun. Thanks to Hobby Lobby, we used cool (and cheap) wooden mushrooms.
I bought a pack of 21, of various sizes – from 1.25 to 4 inches tall and smooth. Ready to accept acrylic paint easily, these mushrooms launched interesting discussions as the boys painted. They talked about mushrooms they had seen like the ones they created, and they also made some fantasy-type colored mushrooms.
First, they painted the caps. This is also a great way to incorporate talking about the anatomy of a mushroom. The 6-year old even painted gills on one of the undersides of the caps.
It didn’t take long for the caps to dry. Then, they elaborated a bit on the caps by adding dots and smudges, and by that time, I had started painting along with them. After all, we had 21 to do. Finally, after a few minutes of drying time, the boys started painting the stems. Because we had so many paint colors out, they began mixing colors to make the stems look more “dirty.”
These boys know mushrooms. Not only have they been out foraging for morels with us back in Missouri, but also we took them on a “mushroom hike” last year in North Carolina.
We’re always on the lookout for mushrooms, and they are simply fascinated by them.
When not outdoors, they like to scour mushroom books. Ever since the older brother has been a little guy, he has been able to point out whether or not a mushroom is edible or deadly (according to the symbols in the books) and the little guy told me never to eat them, and always to ask Mommy or Daddy if he can pick them.
Back to the mushroom art project … after drying thoroughly overnight, the wooden mushrooms were ready for staging in moss. The little guy, his mom and I went hunting for various containers and trays at a thrift store so that we could stage the mushrooms in moss. He chose the Fairy Garden moss at Hobby Lobby – a box of various colors.
This was the easy part, and I think you can see the results. They are quite proud of their mushroom creations, and frankly, so am I. It helped us spend a nice afternoon together, especially since it was raining outdoors. And now, with the rain storms passed, we can head back out to see real mushrooms popping up.
DIY Mushroom Garden Markers – My daughter created these beautiful mushroom garden markers from vintage wooden shoe trees.
Clay Mushroom Wind Chimes – The aforementioned craft in this post, these came together beautifully and looked quite “earthy.”
Mushroom Spore Print – My son-in-law used a spore print to make a sketch of a lion. You’ll have to see it to believe it.
Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
