Works For Me Wednesday-Spring Flower Craft

Well, I am totally itching to see all the beautiful things that come with spring. It has been so windy, so constantly around here that I'm longing for the gentle rains, the flowers springing up and the trees budding out. So in an effort to try and hurry spring along we made these cute flowers in dayhome for the kids to take home. They loved them and they are really easy.

For supplies you'll need:

-coffee filters, tempra paint, green pipe cleaners, long straws

I used liquid tempra paints and mixed springy type colors like soft purples, blues, pinks and yellows. Mix only about a tablespoon for each color. Now in tiny jars or small containers such as yogurt cups, I mixed them thoroughly down with water. I used about 1/4 teaspoon of color to about 3 or 4 tablespoons of water. You want the mix to be very watery and not thick at all. This is what will make the coffee filter absorb the colors and blend them. If the paint is thick the colors will not be blended by the filter.

Now just let the kids paint a filter only on the inside. Explain to them to also do up the sides and to try not to squash down the sides. Although if they do, as preschoolers will, don't worry about it. It just won't keep the ruffle edging. I supervised this part closely as the younger ones tended to want to just keep painting in the same spot and then you end up with a big puddle underneath the filter.

When they are happy with their painting, the filter needs a day to dry (especially those who were very generous with their paints :vP ). I put them into small cereal bowls to help them keep their shape as some of the children had flattened them out. 500ml yogurt containers would also work. Anything like that.

When dry, have the child thread a long pipe cleaner through the straw. This gives it strength so it doesn't flop over. Have it flush on the bottom end. At the top, where you have extra pipe cleaner coming out the top of the straw, place tape over the pipe cleaner and tape to the back of the flower. You'll have to help here so that they don't flatten out their flower again.

Now take a long green pipe cleaner, lay it horizontal on the table, have them lay the flower stem vertical onto it and then have the child bring up the ends of the pipe cleaner together and criss cross them, so that you are actually wrappying it once around the stem. Now they can just bend a leaf shape out of each side and wrap the end once around the stem to secure.

Voila, springtime come early. Works for Me.

For more ideas that work check out Rocks in My Dryer