Can you tell me a bit more about each of the products in the Natural Fabric Art Kit?

The Natural Fabric Art Kit comes in a nicely sized, natural jute hessian, drawstring bag. Included in this are:

• Natural calico cotton fabric banner – has two sewn edges, ready for you to decorate and show off
• 2 pieces of flag shaped calico cotton fabric – has a sewn edge, so you can pop in a flag-pole-type stick, to proudly fly your self-made flag
• 5 mini flags – made from the same, natural calico cotton fabric
• A rubber mallet with an FSC wooden handle – FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified wood is wood that has been harvested sustainably, with FSC being the most well-known forest certification system. FSC is a non-profit organisation, promoting the responsible management of the world’s forests. You can find more about what they do here. This mallet is the perfect tool for hapa zome work. Hapa zome, meaning “leaf dye,” is an ancient Japanese art form of leaf printing. Simply collect leaves or flowers, place them in between two layers of your cotton fabric, and gently thump them with the mallet. This releases the natural dye onto the material and voila, beautiful art made with natural dye. Don’t forget to let it dry before you touch it to avoid smudging!
• 1 metre of natural twine – you can use this for hanging up your finished artwork
• 3 small tins of dried powder – one each of; dried beetroot powder, dried turmeric powder and dried spinach powder. Mix these each with some water to create your own natural paint, in red, yellow and green!
• Charcoal – you will need to use a grinding tool (such as a stone!) and bash this until it becomes powdery, add a small amount of vegetable oil and mix well to create a lovely black paint
• Wax crayon – a clear wax crayon to create beautiful wax resist drawings.
• Size 4 paintbrush – a fine-tipped paintbrush with a wooden handle, perfect for your natural paints!
• Size 14 paintbrush – a thicker paintbrush at size 14, will be great to use on your wax resist drawings! First, draw a pattern or design onto your cotton fabric using the wax crayon, then simply paint across the wax using one of your natural paint colours, to delightfully reveal your design!
• Natural Fabric Art Guide – a small guide with some hints and tips on what and how to use your Natural Fabric Art Kit to make wonderful, unique designs

Who would this be appropriate for?

This kit would be fantastic for children aged 6 and over. Not only will they be able to make cute patterns and designs to hang up, but they'll be able to learn all about the Japanese art form of hapa zome - fun and educational in one! And even if art isn't their thing - who wouldn't love a bit of leaf bashing with a rubber mallet.

Why is it important to get children to play outdoors?

Here at Chimney Sheep, we see the value in nature play! Being outdoors is great for our mental and physical growth, education, and understanding of the world and our place in it. We want to make playing outside fun and interesting by doing something a little different.  Our range of kits will provide an activity for all interests. Whether your child is arty or sporty, into bugs or flowers, we'll have a kit for them. Providing children with all they need to play and learn, leaving an enduring connection with nature and all it holds!

Research founded by The Wildlife Trust found children’s well-being increased after they had spent time connecting with nature. Children have reported their experience outside made them more confident and capable of doing new things when they tried, learned something new, and formed better relationships with classmates. More benefits of outdoor play can be found here.