We love to paint, and we love exploring new painting techniques. Some of the painting activities we’ve enjoyed recently are painting with corn kernels and pom poms. With spring approaching it was only a matter of time before we had to see what would happen if we tried to paint with flower petals.
Ideas for Collecting Flower Petals
1. Get them on sale after holidays. The flower petals we used here came from a bouquet of roses we found for 50 cents after Valentine’s Day.
2. Collect freshly fallen flowers in nature. We have a rule that we admire flowers on plants but don’t pick them. Instead the kids love to look for newly fallen flowers to give as gifts or use for art projects. We have a few special spots in our neighborhood and at our favorite parks where we know we can always find flowers when we need them.
Our Painting with Flower Petals Experiment
First we pulled the petals off of one of our roses. This task alone was fun for the girls.
We also got a small bowl of water and some heavy card stock. I think the thicker the paper the better so that the paper doesn’t shred too much from getting a bit wet. Poster board might also work well.
The girls placed the petals in the water to get them a little damp, and then they began experimenting.
My oldest (age 4) wanted bright colors, so she really spent time pushing hard on the flower petals. She enjoyed the process and spent a while painting, but I think her little muscles got tired. She didn’t paint as long as her sister.
Lovey (age 2) enjoyed the combination of the water and flower petals. For her it was almost like painting with water colors. Her markings were much lighter and the paper was more wet, but she spent a long time exploring and creating. She was also very excited that the water changed color during her painting.
Each of the girls made a couple of paintings that morning. This is one of them. For us this was a process-based exploration, but older kids might also enjoy creating a picture of some sort.
I think we will try painting with different colors and kinds of flowers during spring.
What ways have you used flowers for art or learning activities?
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Home Preschool Flower Theme Lesson Plans
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You can find more flower-inspired activities on my Spring Activities for Kids Pinterest Board.
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We love painting with different flower petals in the summer 🙂
What a fun idea! I’m definitely pinning this for when flowers start popping up everywhere. I’ll have to be on the lookout for cheap bouquets
Thanks! My daughter has become even more excited about finding flowers since we did this activity. Hope you enjoy it!
Great lesson!
Hi! Followed you over from Chicken Babies Mom’s Library Link Up. This is such an awesome idea. Love it! Thanks for sharing.
Jackie
Thanks so much for coming to check us out! I hope you find some fun ideas that you can use.
What a great idea! We recently played with some wilted tulips from my birthday bouquet. Peanut made “flower soup” using the petals and a little bit of water. He enjoyed seeing the water change color too. I’ll have to remember to try painting with them next time.
We had fun playing outside with flower petals in the water table. I love that Peanut is always cooking up something! Painting with the petals after water play would be a great extension to the activity.