Welcome to the first Gnome Zone Weeklong Challenge!
Share your finished projects with us on social media using the hashtag #PoudreLibraries. We’ll highlight as many as we can each week before the next challenge begins (new challenges every Monday).
Supplies needed
- Sticks, twigs, bark
- Stones – big and small
- Greenery – like grass and leaves
- Flowers – gnomes love dandelions
- Feathers or shiny rocks or other treasures from your own home
Here’s what you do:
Step 1: Go outside! You can go to your backyard or garden or on an adventure to a local natural area or the Poudre River. Find the perfect spot for your Gnome Home.
Hint: Gnomes love to hide- try to find a place near a large tree, along the riverbank, or under leaves and grass so they can scamper into the shadows when they don’t want to be found.
Step 2: Collect materials for your Gnome Home. Flat rocks, sticks, leaves, flowers like dandelions, and tall grasses work well. You should find plenty of fun things on the ground around you.
Step 3: Start by building a sturdy base for your Gnome Home. Flat rocks that you can stack work well. If you’re using sticks, you can put them in a teepee shape. Make sure to leave an opening for the gnomes to get inside.
Step 4: Add bark, leaves, grass, treasures, and flowers to build the outside layer of your Gnome Home.
Step 5: Add final touches to your Gnome Home: a path of stones to the front door; a small bench made of bark; a bed of leaves; a small pond for the gnomes to cool their feet. I bet you’ll think of something great!
You can make a record of your Gnome Home by asking your caretaker to take a photo of it or draw it out in your sketchbook.
Challenge Extensions
Not done after building just one? Continue building Gnome Homes next to each other to create a Gnome Village! Create paths between the homes using stones, leaves, or twigs.
If you’ve finished your Gnome Home, try building a Fairy House next door. What different materials would you use to attract fairies instead of gnomes? Will the shape be different? Will you make it taller or shorter, or maybe exactly the same?
“The Why” behind the Challenge
Building your own Gnome Home is a great way to get outside and use your natural surroundings to create something fun! Combine your engineering and artistic skills while using your hands to mindfully engage in this free activity.