Raising environmental awareness amongst children at an early age is an important part of their development, and the arts can play a very useful part in this area of growth. 

For Cruinniú na nÓg 2019, The Dock, in association with Mud Bugs, will deliver a series of specially designed workshops led by Jessica O’Rourke. During this interactive experience, children will explore the patterns on items found in nature and learn to creatively express themselves in new ways, creating 2D and 3D forms.

Mud Bugs’ work is a blend of the Scandinavian Forest School pedagogy with nature-based activities. Through teaching children from an early stage that nature should be respected and nourished, the children have the space and skills to be active, reflect, meditate, care for each other as well as themselves, and overall, thrive in nature. 

Mud Bugs promotes independence, self-reliance, problem-solving, coordination, emotional well-being and physical development.

Participants will work with leaves, pine cones, feathers, and shells, discovering how to integrate patterns from these items into their own clay creations. Non-toxic, air drying clay will be used, which can be painted afterwards. The techniques learned will inspire children to search for the natural art in their own backyards while opening a discussion on environmental awareness. Each child will be given a special notebook made of recycled paper to take away. 

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.