Homemade: Craft inspired by the Sydney Royal Easter Show!

The Sydney Royal Easter Show is an opportunity for city dwellers (like myself) to experience a little "country" and I love it!  My kids love all the animal experiences - feeding the baby animals in the farmyard nursery, riding the ponies, milking the cow, watching the sheep being sheared, patting a pig, watching the sheepdogs round up the sheep and watching the animals being paraded in competition.

For me, the highlight is the "district exhibits" in the Woolworths Fresh Food Dome.  Each district display features more than 10,000 fruits and vegetables, grain and wool from the region they represent.  The displays are a work of art and involve months of planning.  Some schools also submit their mini version of a district exhibit and can be just as creative.

Photo taken (by me) of a School Exhibit at the Sydney Royal Easter Show in 2013.

Sydney Royal Easter Show Farmyard Nursery. Photograph used with permission from the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW.

Sydney Royal Easter Show 2014 District Exhibit winner. Photograph used with permission from the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW.

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This craft is inspired by the district exhibits found at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.  Instead of fruit and vegetables, we gathered some seed pods from the garden, lentils, rice and pasta. 

What do you need?

• A canvas (can be purchased from craft or discount shops)
  
• Craft glue (PVA or Mod Podge)
• Pencil/crayon
• Textural elements like seed pods, rice, lentils, dry pasta, etc

What do you do?

• Draw a picture or pattern (scribble works too) on the canvas.
  
• Cover a small section of your picture with craft glue (be generous with the glue).
  
• Place your textural element on your picture.  Repeat with other sections of your picture.
  

Drying time is quite a while (several hours, depending on how much glue is used).

This is a "free form" craft and suits kids of all ages.  As you can see from the photographs, Miss 7 drew a picture and was quite precise with her layout and placement of textural elements.  Mr 3 was less precise, however still enjoyed placing the various textures onto the canvas {and yes he received help to spell out his name}.

Depending on your child's attention span, this is a craft that your child might start and then come back to at a later time or even on a different day.  You could introduce a new element for them to paste when they return.

The finished work might not be as stunning as a fruit and vegetable display from the Sydney Royal Easter Show, however, it provides a textural board for hands to explore.  The textures are really interesting when the glue has dried. It also makes a unique artwork for your child's bedroom wall or as a gift.  Ours are displayed above our fireplace (still not completed, mind you).  

This is the perfect craft to do over the school holidays, maybe after a visit to the show. Do you enjoy visiting the Sydney Royal Easter Show? What do you like best?  If you live somewhere other than Sydney - do you have something similar to our district exhibits?

Photos used with permission from the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW.