# Plants in Art

## Overview
In this chapter, students explore the beauty and variety of plant life and learn how nature can inspire artistic creations. Through nature walks, drawing, colouring, and hands-on activities using natural materials, children observe patterns, colours, and textures in their environment. They learn to connect these with designs found in clothing, monuments, and other daily objects. The chapter emphasizes creativity through nature, storytelling, and shared experiences in art-making.

## Key Topics Covered

### 1. Nature Walk and Drawing
- **Activity**: Go on a nature walk in a garden, field, park, or wild patch.
- **Objective**: Closely observe leaves, stems, flowers, insects, etc. Feel and see the textures, colours, and patterns in nature.
- **Outcome**: Draw and colour outlines of natural objects like leaves and flowers.

### 2. Drawing with Natural Colours
- **Activity**: Use fruits, vegetables, roots, flowers, or leaves to create your own colours.
- **Examples**: Crush beetroot, jamun, mango, etc., and observe the colours they make.
- **Objective**: Explore how natural substances can be turned into colour sources for art.

### 3. Juicy Colours!
- **Task**: Identify what colour your tongue turns after eating fruits like beetroot or mango.
- **Extension**: Colour in the shapes using natural colours.
- **Objective**: Understand how different plants produce various colour pigments.

### 4. Jali Patterns in Buildings
- **Concept**: A “jali” is a decorative grill often found in windows and doors, sometimes inspired by nature.
- **Activity**: Observe jali designs in buildings or monuments and draw them.
- **Objective**: Recognize how plant-based and geometric patterns influence architecture.

### 5. Make Your Own Jali
- **Steps**:
1. Fold old newspaper in alternate folds.
2. Draw and cut out shapes (like leaves) along the folds.
3. Open the folds to reveal a jali pattern.
4. Colour it and use it as a stencil.
- **Objective**: Learn folding and cutting techniques to make a paper jali and use it in design.

### 6. Stories in Pictures
- **Activity**: Think of a story related to a plant or tree and draw a picture to tell the story.
- **Objective**: Combine storytelling with drawing to build narrative and creative thinking.

### 7. Plant Motifs in Clothes
- **Task**: Look for plant designs in clothes, textiles, and pictures at home.
- **Objective**: Observe how plant patterns appear in everyday objects and recreate them.

### 8. Draw with Plant Motifs
- **Materials**: Collect natural and recycled materials—leaves, petals, old paper, thread, etc.
- **Activity**: Create greeting cards or page borders using drawings and real plant parts.
- **Guideline**: Avoid plucking fresh flowers or leaves.
- **Objective**: Encourage creative use of available materials for artistic projects.

---

## New Terms and Simple Definitions

| Term | Definition |
|-----------|------------|
| Nature walk | A walk outdoors to observe nature closely |
| Pattern | A design or repeated shape or arrangement |
| Natural colour | Colour made from plants or vegetables |
| Jali | A decorative grill or screen with cut-out designs |
| Motif | A repeated design or shape, often inspired by nature |
| Texture | The feel or surface quality of an object (e.g., rough, smooth) |
| Stencil | A shape cut out to trace or colour in its outline |
| Petal | A colourful part of a flower |
| Fold | Bending something (like paper) to create layers |
| Design | A planned drawing or decorative pattern |

---

**Practice Questions**

### Easy (3)

1. **What is a jali?**
**Answer**: A jali is a decorative grill often found in windows and doors.

2. **What can you use to make natural colours?**
**Answer**: Fruits, vegetables, leaves, or flowers.

3. **What should you avoid while collecting natural materials for art?**
**Answer**: Avoid plucking fresh flowers or leaves.

### Medium (2)

4. **Explain how to make your own jali using newspaper.**
**Answer**: Fold the paper, draw leaf shapes, cut them out while folded, and open to see the pattern.

5. **Why do we observe lines, shapes, and patterns in nature during the nature walk?**
**Answer**: To understand and draw the beauty of nature using real examples.

### Difficult (3)

6. **What is the benefit of using natural colours in art?**
**Answer**: They are eco-friendly and teach how colours can be found in everyday nature.

7. **How do plant motifs influence designs in clothes and buildings?**
**Answer**: Patterns from leaves and flowers are often used in textiles and carvings to decorate items.

8. **Describe the steps to create a greeting card with plant materials.**
**Answer**: Use recycled paper, fallen petals/leaves, draw plant shapes, and decorate with glue and threads.

### Very Difficult (2)

9. **How does exploring nature contribute to visual art development in children?**
**Answer**: It sharpens observation, enhances creativity, and builds a direct connection between environment and expression.

10. **Compare man-made colours with natural colours in terms of learning value.**
**Answer**: Natural colours encourage experimentation and learning from the environment, while man-made colours are ready-made and less interactive.

---