Nature Table, Seizoenentafel (Seasonal Table), Jahreszeitentisch (Seasons Table), Jaartafel (Year Table)
Would you like to create a season table for your children (or yourself)? Here are some simple instructions for pulling everything together to make a nice display. It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. In fact, a lot of the items on the season table I’m featuring here I already had in my home.
For the backdrop here I used a 21″ x 21″ green playsilk. You could just as easily use a piece of green fabric of any type. The ground layer is piece of bright green felt, and the structure is made from three wooden tree blocks with a large piece of bark set on top. I use this structure for most of my nature table setups, because it gives the critters and gnomes a place to live.
My children helped to collect these items—things don’t have to be perfect, and the more the children can be involved, the better! Be creative and add items that you can find in nature during each season, wherever you live.
These little ceramic bunnies were collected over time. You could use felted, wooden, or plastic animals, too. It’s just nice to have the animal element included in the display. Some little pom-pom chicks would be lovely!
Gnome / Peg Doll Pattern & Tutorial
The peg doll gnomes are my favorite part of any nature table. I’ve never used a pattern but just looked at gnomes made by others (Pinterest is great for this) and experimented. You can’t really mess them up! I make their clothes out of craft store felt, which is about 33 cents per sheet, and I paint their faces and hair with craft paint. This little lady is a bit larger than the other gnomes I’ve made, and she has arms so that she can hold her daffodil parasol.
The above is a basic formula for creating a seasonal display, but you may find that your imagination comes up with something far more complex. I think it’s so fun to create new scenes each year, recycling some elements and making new ones, too. Here are some of my most recent season tables from around the year:
