Nature art challenge: Your favorite tree

Do you have a favorite tree?

A favorite tree is like a good friend. Perhaps you share secrets with the tree outside your bedroom window. Maybe your favorite tree is the perfect spot for a picnic or a good read, or even a climb.

Activity

Draw, paint, or photograph your favorite tree.

If you don’t have a favorite, that’s okay! Choose any tree in your yard or at school, or a tree at your local park. You could also choose a tree from a book or magazine. Or, dream up a magical tree in a faraway land or on a distant planet.

Create! Here are some ideas for how to illustrate your tree:

Do a quick pencil sketch and color with crayons or pencils.
Create a detailed diagram with labels.
Sketch the tree, then paint with watercolors or acrylics.
Finger paint with mud, clay, or other natural materials.
Sculpt your tree out of clay.
Or, photograph your tree. You may want to use an app to edit or draw on the photograph.

Observe! Get to know your tree a little better

Notice the texture of the bark and the color of the leaves. Does your tree have flowers? Are climbing plants creeping up its trunk? Is there an epiphyte nestled in the upper branches? (An epiphyte is a plant that grows on the surface of a tree, like an orchid, fern, or moss.) Do creatures live in the canopy of your tree or in burrows underneath it? Do birds visit your tree?

Here is an example: Cabbage tree sketch in colored pencil on paper

Observations of this cabbage tree:

The cabbage tree is endemic to New Zealand but the one in this drawing is living in a garden in Australia. Each day, many species of birds stop for a perch on one of its branches, including sulfur-crested cockatoos, noisy miner birds, Australian magpies, galahs, and more.

Brushtail possums also frequent this tree, snoozing by day in the clusters of leaves and climbing down the trunk at night to go on the hunt for food. This cabbage tree has bark that is rough and textured. The leaves are sharp and sword-like — they litter the ground when they die, creating homes for insects.

Want to find out what kind of tree your favorite is?

We recommend the Seek app by iNaturalist. Or check out the field guides in your local library.

Create and share!

We’d love to see what you’ve created. To share your art with us, parents or guardians can email us using the contact information on our About Us page.