fower petal art

This project came from one of my co-teachers and the children really loved it. The results are really pretty even if they do fade over the months. This is not really a keep but still great work for fine motor and discussing design elements with children. My co-teacher used cardboard cake rounds with the centers cut out. I repurposed cereal boxes. We had originally covered the children's art with another layer of clear contact paper but the moisture trapped inside quickly aided the flowers in molding and it was not pretty so you only need one layer of contact paper.

*clear contact paper
*cut cardboard frames from old boxes, cereal boxes, or cake rounds
*assorted flower petals and leaves (we used roses and other edibles)
*scissors

Step 1. Assemble frames. Cut a square or rectangle of cardboard and carefully cut out the center.

Step 2. Cut a sheet of clear contact paper slightly larger than your frame, attach sticky-side up with the blank side of the cardboard facing forward/top. Trim excess contact paper.

Step 3. Set out flower petals for the children to adhere to their sticky frames. Young children end ot explore by putting things in their mouths, for this reason, it might be best to stick with edible flowers such as roses, nasturtiums, geraniums, and flowering herbs. Go for what is in your garden or better yet, have the children bring in flowers and plants to share. They can dismantle/dissect them a day or two before this project. Store petals and leaves in a bag in the refrigerator.

Step 4. Hang in a window so that the light shines through. Have fun!

a {floral} invitation to play

A lot fo flower cookies were made. We're talking oodles of them. After the cookies were" eaten" the children began making pizzas. If you keep the stems of your flowers you can reattach and put them to some other use. The dough was homemade and tinted green with plants from my garden. The flowers came from the dollar store...$3 worth...not bad, not bad at all.

make a cupcake liner and coffee filter {sun} flower

Back in November when we had our week of sunflowers, the kiddos make these fun coffee filter and cupcake liner flowers to take home.

 

I set up a table with all the supplies to create sunflowers along with a vase of flowers for inspiration. There were three different colors/prints of cupcake liners, brown coffee filters, tissue paper, sunflower seeds, and gluesticks. The children began with a coffee filter (though some chose not to use one) and layered on their cupcake liners after they flattened them. When they were happy with their layers, they picked a number between one and ten then counted out the corresponding number of sunflower seeds to glue onto the center of their flower-to-be.

 

 

As the glue dried on their flowers, they selected a stick (dried branches from my grapevine) and to paint with green paint they mixed up on their own choosing from a selection of blues and yellow paint (thus revisiting little blue and little yellow). Glitter is always a choice (gotta use those pinching grips) and a wee tissue leaf or two was squished atop the wet paint. Once the stems were dry, the children squeezed out a blob of glue onto their stem and placed their flower where they wanted it. This was a project that focused on following steps with a lot of fun discussion in between.

flower petal butterflies, part three

 This time we're gonna give 'em a whack or two. If yer handy with a sewing machine, you can then whip them up into a floral scented sachet. If not, use a larger piece of fabric and frame in a painted embroidery hoop.

Materials

*assortment of garden flowers

*2 small pieces of muslin or cotton

*2 small pieces of printed fabric

*newspaper

*board/old cutting board

*hammer/mallet

*rolling pin

*sewing machine or needle and thread

*cotton balls and/or fiberfill of choice

*pinking shears

*lace scraps optional

*dried rose petals or lavender or favorite scented oil

Arrange your petals on top of your muslin to create butterflies. Clickhere to see the first post on how to do this. When arranging petals, think front and back. Add small details first then layer wing petals on top followed by other accents. This way, when you clobber it with the mallet, you'll have two prints for your effort. 

 When satisfied, cover your butterfly with another piece of muslin and gently move to your board or cardboard.

Cover with a couple of sheets of newspaper and place the whole shebang on the ground outside. A hard ground that can take a wallop is best for this part. Before whacking with the hammer or mallet, use the rolling pin to gently roll the paper flat on top of the petals. This will help cement them in place and prepare for the clobber that they are about to get. Now you're ready to whack away! Give the newspaper covered creations a dozen whacks or so. You don't need to hit too hard which is why I would recommend a wooden or rubber mallet before a hammer. If you only have a rolling pin handy, give that a try and roll away.

Remove newspaper and gently peel the fabric pieces back away from each other. If you were successful, you should have two faint butterfly prints in front of you. Yay! 

Add a few details with a permanent marker and layer on top of your printed fabric. Stitch around the perimeter of the fabric leaving a two inch opening. Fill your pillow with flower petals or scent soaked cotton balls. We used a combo of lavender buds and fiberfill. Bring back to machine and continue stitching. Use pinking shears to cut around the edge to create a frilled look. 

 

 Handstitch or glue a loop of lace to the back to hang in your closet or leave as is and place in a drawer. Have your kiddo sign and date the wee pretties and give away for Mother's Day gifts. Yay for pretty!

flower petal butterflies, part two

 Second verse, same as the first...almost. This time, we're gonna create temporary butterflies. The process for this is to focus on the task of the making. The pulling apart of the flowers, the dipping of the petals and the arranging. Even the most wiggly of kiddos can lose themselves in the quiet destruction of this project. Small children will strengthen their pincher grips while older children will take notice of the varying colors and shapes within the petals themselves. This is a perfect project for using up a flower bouquet that has seen better days.

Materials

*flowers

*shallow bowl or dish for flowers

*large plastic yogurt lids or paper plates

*white paper

*scissors

*paintbrush

*pen/pencil

*small glass or bowl of water

As in the first project, have your kiddos collect flowers from your garden. Encourage questions and dialogue and have fun! when collected, set your kiddo up at the table and let them take apart the flowers you collected.  While they are working on disassembling the flowers, you can set up the workspace with a shallow dish of water for dipping and the yogurt lid or paper plates. If using a yogurt lid, plop the lid onto a piece of paper and trace around it, cut out and insert paper into the lid. 

Have your kiddo cover the paper with water using the paintbrush. If using paper plates, paint those up with water. The water on the paper will act as a fixative of sorts, keeping the flower petals in place. 

To create the butterflies, have your kiddo dip each petal into the dish of water before arranging on top of the damp paper. Continue until you have a pretty little butterfly. Create as many or as few as you like. Turn it into a science experiment and see what happens if the petals sit for a day or two. Enjoy!

flower petal butterflies, part one

 I've had this idea kicking around the noggin for a few years now. Inspired by a day playing with kiddos and their love of tearing a part flowers. It reminded me of how much I too used to love doing that. I used to love unraveling all the petal pretty of a camelia on my walk to first grade. I would step outside to our front porch and walk to the side of the house where the camelia bush sat. Plucking the fattest, roundest bloom I could find, I would gently un-peel the whole thing as I walked up the road, around the corner, across the avenue, onto the park and over the bridge that led to Mrs. Foster's first grade class. If I picked the right kind of bloom, it would unravel the entire distance, leaving behind a much better suited trail than breadcrumbs.

This project is for four years and up. You know your kiddo best and if they are not one for sitting still for awhile with focus then this project is not for them. I have created three ways for you and your kiddo to create your own flower petal butterflies. You can always of course do this project with younger children, just turn the goal into the process not the specific symmetry of a butterfly. The idea for this is less about the finished pretty and more about the adventure of picking and selecting the flowers, looking at pictures of butterflies and searching for similarities in the prettiness of the petals. When you do this with your kiddos, concentrate on small moments and quiet making. Dialogue about the process, whether you are commenting on the texture of the petals as you release them from their stems, the back and forth motion of brushing the glue onto the cardstock, or the precise placement of petals in symmetrical form. There is all kinds of science that can be culled from this project. Take a cue from your kiddo and go for it!

Materials

*variety of flowers in a basket or bowl

*wax paper

*cardstock or precut atc sized cards

*mod podge or white glue

*paintbrush

*small dish of water

*photo corners (optional)

*glue stick

*contrasting cardstock cut slightly larger than your base piece

*books and pictures of butterflies

Head to the library for a handful of awesome butterfly books. Try to find a few non-fiction titles if you can and give them a run through with your kiddo as you examine the anatomy of a butterfly. Take some time to notice the placement of the wings and the symmetry in their pattern. Ask questions to help your child take notice of a butterflies unique beauty. If you can't get to a library, hit the internet for some useful sites.

When you are ready, go for a garden walk in your own garden and collect flowers that have small petals that resemble the shape of a butterfly's wings. We used violas, geranium, ranunculus, tea rose, and lavender to name a few. You can also pick up a day old bouquet from a flower shop or market. Just don't start picking flowers from someone else's garden!

Once you have your flowers, set up a work space. Spread out a large sheet of wax paper, parchment or splat mat. Put your flowers in a shallow bowl or dish that has water in it to keep them fresh as you work. You can use a vase or jar but those are prone to tipping as little hands grab at the flowers. Working with your kiddo, disassemble a handful of flowers and let the petals and leaves scatter across your work surface for easier picking.

Set up you paintbrush and cardstock and mod podge. If you are using white glue, give it a little bit of water to make it easier for painting with. you can use any size card stock you like. We prefer the smaller atc sized pieces as they really contain the butterfly and look really pretty mounted onto a larger card. Have your kiddo brush their card with the mod podge or glue. Now it is time for making butterflies.

Beginning with the top parts of the wings, ask your kiddo to select two flower petals that are as similar as possible. We're going for symmetry here. Next, have them select the smaller bottom wings. Continue selecting smaller and smaller bits to decorate the wings. Dip the petals into the glue mix to adhere to the already placed petals, It may seem like they won't stick, but they will. Just don't fuss too much.

Once the wings are finished it is time for the body and antennae. We used the thin green leaves from some of the flowers and the thin petals of a flowering lavender. Set aside to dry. When they dry, you can add details to the cards with markers and/or colored pencils. Once yo uhave done that, it is time to press them flatty-flat. Enter your wax paper. Lay each card between two sheets of wax paper or one sheet that has been folded over and lay something super heavy on top. We used a cutting board and suitcase. Let them sit overnight.

 

Remove the temporary weights from your butterflies and admire how flat they got. Now it is time to mount them to another base. We used A6 sized cardstock cut in half and photo corners. To use photo corners, have your kiddo place a corner on each corner of their butterfly paper and then dampen the backs before centering onto a new sheet of base card stock. The smaller the base, the easier it will be for your kiddo to center. If you do not have photo corners, use a gluestick, it will do nicely.

Ta-da! These would make lovely Mother's Day cards for Grandma or Mom. They don't hold up as long as some other art work but if you keep them pressed for a few days they might. You can also spray with a fixative if you like. I haven't tried that yet, it might help as well.

Stay tuned for part two! More of the same but different.