58 



NATURE-STUDY 



for the busy teacher. And the fact that the object has been 

 observed more or less closely in the nature lesson as to its 

 structural details, colors, etc., can only be of service to the 

 art lesson. The changing seasons, with their variety of life 

 and inanimate scenes, add an additional interest and charm 

 to the art study. 



The nature-study material is especially useful in the art 



work in the pri- 

 mary grades, 

 since the chil- 

 dren are still ac- 

 customed chief- 

 ly to objective 

 thinking, and 

 their imagina- 

 tive and crea- 

 tive powers are 

 not highly de- 

 veloped. There- 

 fore the art 

 work must be 



mainly based upon the observation and representation of 

 what the children can see, that is, actual things. 



The children's aesthetic appreciation of nature can be greatly 

 developed through the artistic study of natural objects and 

 scenes. To paint a bit of landscape in different seasons or in 

 different lights, to observe the less obvious, though no less pleas- 

 ing, subtleties of harmony of colors, subdued hues, and pictu- 

 resque details can only increase the power of seeing the beauti- 

 ful in the landscape. Similarly, the representation of birds, in- 

 sects, flowers, etc., makes them more significant and interesting. 



Fig. 5. Blue Jay. 

 (From a painting by a juipil of the fourth grade.) 



