Seeds of Weather Wisdom: Art, Nature and Feel Your Weather®
Description
Remember the joy of cloud watching when you were little?
Or those curious discoveries that happen when children are given the time and space to explore, notice and make?
Perhaps you’re looking for a unique and playful experience to share with your kids these school holidays.
Seeds of Weather Wisdom: Art, Nature and Feel Your Weather® is a family-friendly nature and art experience for children and their grown-ups at a beautiful regenerative property called The Sanctuary in Yundi.
Created and hosted by Kimberly Harding, paediatric occupational therapist and founder of Feel Your Weather, this experience brings together nature connection, creativity and emotional wisdom in a playful and tangible way.
What will we do?
Together, we’ll slow down, look up and notice.
We’ll wander through nature, notice the weather and sky above us, and forage for fallen leaves, grasses and other natural treasures.
Then we’ll use what we find to create art with sunshine through the magical process of cyanotype printing.
Families can explore different weather-inspired art invitations, create clouds and skies, or simply follow their own curiosity. There is no right way to create and no art experience is needed.
While the sunshine works its magic, families are invited to bring a packed morning tea and enjoy some time in nature before we reveal our prints together.
Each artwork will then help grow our Blue Sky Gallery, a temporary outdoor exhibition of sunlight, weather and wonder hanging amongst the trees.
No two skies will be the same.
What does weather have to do with feelings?
Children already notice weather.
They draw suns, rainbow and clouds. They watch storms roll in. They feel wind on their faces and rain on their skin.
Feel Your Weather® builds on this natural curiosity to explore another kind of weather: the weather we feel inside.
Through playful stories, art and conversations that focus on noticing, families will be invited to wonder about emotions together. How might happiness feel like sunshine? What happens when an Angry Thunderstorm arrives? Can feelings change and pass, just like the weather?
This isn’t a lesson about getting rid of big feelings or making children calm.
It’s an invitation to notice together and know that All Weather Is Welcome in Our Sky™.
What will we take home?
Families will leave with their 4 x original cyanotype artworks (per person) and simple ideas for continuing weather noticing and conversations about feelings at home.
Children will also receive a handmade Happy Sun made from recycled seed paper containing native golden everlasting seeds, ready to plant at home and grow into little “Happy Suns” in the garden. These will bring the beautiful native Painted Lady Butterfly to your garden.
The experience is designed to plant small seeds of emotional literacy, creativity and lifelong nature connection, helping families explore how the weather around us can support understanding the weather inside us.
Our hope is that you leave feeling a little more connected to your child, the natural world and perhaps even your own emotional sky.
Slow down. Look up. Notice. Create.
And remember, No Weather Lasts Forever™
FAQs
- How long will the cyanotype artworks take to develop?
Cyanotype art is created with UV light, which means the weather and spring sunshine are part of our creative process too! Developing times can vary depending on the UV levels and conditions on the day, and we will be working with nature rather than expecting every artwork to follow an exact timeline.
We have allowed approximately 30 minutes for our artworks to develop in the sunshine. During this time, families are invited to enjoy their packed morning tea, slow down and spend some more time in nature. There will also be opportunities for children and their grown ups to continue exploring, noticing and playing while the sunshine works its magic.
Once the prints are ready, we will wash and reveal our cyanotype artworks before bringing them together in our Blue Sky Gallery amongst the trees.
Part of the wonder of cyanotype is that no two prints, skies or days are exactly the same. The UV levels and spring weather may change our timing slightly, and we think that is part of the magic of creating art with wild nature. Some changes may even continue after the event, creating a unique piece that continues to evolve, just like nature and our emotional experiences.
- How do I find The Sanctuary in Yundi?
As this is a private regenerative property, detailed travel instructions will be emailed upon booking the event. The property is located in Yundi and offers beautiful wild nature for us to explore.
In terms of finding Yundi, when coming from Adelaide, travel down Victor Harbor Rd. After Willunga (and before Mt Compass) is a turn off to the left for Yundi Rd (that later becomes Enterprise Rd).
The entrance will have large flags indicating 'The Sancturary' with an image of a male Superb Fairywren. The blue feathers are perfectly matched to the blue sky gallery that we will co-create together.
- How do I access this regenerative property?
Entry instructions
Please don’t block access to the gate. Please leave the gate as you found it i.e., either open or closed. There is a roadway straight ahead and one to the left (parallel to the road/fence). Park to the left of the gate/entrance – turn left as soon as you enter the gate. There is some unevenness and tree stumps, so take care here. Traffic cones and signage will be indicated on the day. Please don’t drive past the shed. There is no driving on the property other than parking as soon as you can inside the gate. The roads are not built for traffic – they are eroded and sandy and we don’t want any damage to the roads or your vehicle.
After entry instructions
Meet us at The Shed (the only building onsite - as you wander a little way down the road along the dirt road and the colorbond fence.
- What hazards do I need to be aware of? It is wild nature after all...
Hazards
This event will require the ability to walk up to 1km on sloping, uneven ground that is likely to include fallen wood, leaf and bark litter and natural obstacles. You will require a good level of mobility to feel comfortable on this walk. This is untamed nature. We will be moving on animal paths for part of it and pushing through undergrowth – but it’s worth it! You are welcome to bring a hiking pole or grab a stick and we move slowly and carefully – we’re definitely not huffing and puffing. This is wild nature so there may also be snakes, blackberry plants (spikey), bees, ants, chickens through the coop. There is unfenced water - a dam and the Finniss river. We have current Senior first aid training and will be carrying a first aid kit. There is mobile phone reception where we will be. Please advise any particular health concerns that may be relevant. Please feel free to contact Kimberly to discuss any concerns on 0412353214.
The art experience uses chemicals that are not designed for ingesting and therefore require full adult supervision. The water baths that will be used for rinsing and washing the artworks will be tipped int of The Sanctuary. Please ensure that your child does not pour the water bath out.
- What is the toilet situation?
Toilet location
There is a ‘long drop loo’ at The Sanctuary. There is only front-on access, no sideways transfer access. There are flushing public toilets in nearby (5min drive) Mt Compass. The toilet is at the end of the road, to the right of the shed. It's a small corrugated iron structure with a door.
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