Creating with the parts of flowers

Before you decide to throw out your next flower bouquet, save them and explore the parts of a flower!

Gathering the Flowers

I went around and gathered some flower bouquets that were just about done in and shared them with Miss Martin’s kindergarten class.

We actually did several activities with the left-over flowers which I will share more on.  The first activity we tried was a large group flower canvas. I have seen quite a few variations of this idea online and loved them all. For our flower bouquet canvas, I cut the center out of one side of a left-over piece of cardboard box.

Putting the Frames Together

I added clear contact paper to one side of the box then set it out on a table (sticky side up) with a handful of left-over flowers.

Giving Just a Few Instructions

The children were given a few instructions. They were to…

  1. Pluck the flowers, petals, and leaves off the stems.
  2. Create flower designs on the sticky paper by arranging the flower pieces on the canvas.
  3. Not to just take a whole flower and stick it on the canvas (even though some did anyway 🙂

The children loved doing this – they loved snapping the stems and plucking the petals. Some tried to use scissors to cut the stems and quickly discovered it was much easier just to snap them in half.

I had a nice selection of all sorts of flowers set out. Many of the teachers and administrators were given flowers for Teacher Appreciation week and so they were happy to donate them.

Each of the children rotated through several centers of flower bouquet activities and took a turn adding to the flower canvas.

Some of the children preferred to add the entire flower or flower head to the canvas but most of the children designed each flower piece by piece.

Finishing Things Up

Once every one took a turn (or several turns) adding flowers to our canvas, I added a second sheet of contact paper to seal the flowers in between – and to keep them from falling off.

The only thing I was left wondering is if there is a difference in the types of contact paper. This paper didn’t seem as sticky as I had hoped it would be.

But here is our finished canvas – it turned out beautiful. It has a 3-D look which the photos really don’t show that well and it looks lovely in the window.

I am curious how long the flower colors will stay pretty – we will soon see!

 

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Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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