Picnic Table | Rbgcbackyard

- Picnic Table -

This is the place where we “gather” to share ideas and crafts that draw upon the natural beauty of our surroundings. Send us some photos of your wonderful projects so that we can share them with others.

Some activity suggestions from members are listed below.

A Nature Diorama

For this project you will need the following materials:

Shoeboxes, or any smallish box will do
Glue or tape
markers, crayons if needed
Colored paper if needed

Take a walk and collect rocks, stones, twigs, bits of evergreen trees found on the ground, seed, berries, and soil.

Prepare the shoebox by laying it on its side. Decide on what environment you want to make. If a woodland scene, draw trees in the background and glue dirt and dried grass on the bottom. Glue stones and rocks wherever you want them to go. Glue or tape twigs or evergreen bits for trees. If you want a bear living in the woods you can pile up some larger rocks for a cave or lay some thicker sticks for the bear to sleep under. It’s all up to you. You could make any environment, for example a pond with a beaver dam made of lots of twigs glued together. If you have any little toy critters or LEGO people you can add them to the scene. Have fun!

Build Fairy Houses

Natureworks in Northford, CT carries many supplies for crafting fairy dwellings. Check out their website: www.naturework.com.

Our Favorite Trails to Walk

Visit the Weantinoge site and hike and explore one of Litchfield County's many lush preserves! https://weantinoge.org/our_owned_lands/

The two below links have links to maps that can be downloaded which show land that can be walked.

http://www.roxburylandtrust.org/

http://www.bridgewaterlandtrust.org/

Making Bouquets

Look for plants and flowers with interesting shapes: pussy willows before they bloom, Queen Anne’s Lace, grasses and their plumes. Watch for spring bulbs, summer wildflowers and fall foliage. Arrange your finds with leaves, twigs and ribbon so they form a lovely arrangement. Note that on May 1, the French give Lily of the Valley clusters to a sweetheart. According to club member Joyce Rannestad, the first Lily of the Valley Day in France, Fete du Muguet, began on May 1st, 1561 when King Charles IX gave the lily of the valleys to the ladies at the court. She says, “I experienced this when I was the chaperone on a school exchange in the Perigueux, France!!!”

Feed the Hummingbirds

You might see your first hummingbird as early as this coming May. Here is the recipe for their food: https://www.audubon.org/news/how-make-hummingbird-nectar