Frequently Asked Questions

Who made The Library of Nature and why?

The Library of Nature is an artist led project by illustrator, paper artist and arts educator Eleanor Chaney. It is based on nearly 15 years of experience working in arts education and her own experiences as a parent. It has been created to support your family in developing your creative skills, feeing your imagination, exploring the natural world and having fun together.

Learn more about Eleanor and the rest of the team here.

Who is it for?

The Library of Nature is for anybody who is curious about the natural world and wants to develop their creative skills – please feel free to use the website and it's resources for your own enjoyment. The project is designed for children aged 5 – 11 and their families, and we have a series of Facebook workshops to support this. There is also a programme of free events for parents and carers to learn new creative skills, and events for educators to address some of the ethical questions that arise through the study of natural history with children.

Please see our ‘Introduction’ page for more information.

How much does it cost?

The first stage of the project has been kindly supported by Arts Council England and this has enabled us to make the website and it's activities free for Spring 2021. At a later date we hope to introduce an affordable subscription service, and special workshops and activities that will be a small fee. These will help us to continue to grow the free parts of the library for everyone to enjoy.

Do we need special materials?

It is important to us that the activities on The Library of Nature can be enjoyed by everyone, therefore we try to use easy to source, affordable materials. We also want to create things that do not damage the environment, and therefore use sustainable or recycled materials wherever possible.

Each activity contains a key to let you know what materials you will need.

Do I need to supervise my child using the website?

We advise that children are always supervised when doing our activities. Each activity contains a key to let you know what age group it is designed for, how long we think it will take, what materials you need, and whether or not you child can complete it simply with supervision or if it's a project for you to do together. Activities range from colouring and drawing sheets you can instantly download and print off, to quick 10 minute makes they can go on to play with, to small, self contained projects you can complete over a few crafting sessions.

How can we share our work with you?

We would also love to see how you use the activities we have designed.

To keep all children who use our website safe we do not feature surnames or faces on our social media. Please send images of the things you create or the activities you have done to librarian@thelibraryofnature.com or message us on our Facebook page. You can also tag us in Facebook and Instagram using @thelibraryofnature or the hashtag #thelibraryofnature.

How can we get in touch with you?

We would love to hear any feedback, suggestions or responses you might have about the website or the activities. Please feel free to get in touch using the form below, or to find us on Facebook or Instagram. Please be aware we are unable to respond to direct communication with people under 18 but can reply to letters or emails sent through parental/carer addresses and accounts.