Maker Monday: Three-Way Flower Power

“When we invite our children to create in an open-ended way, we invite in so much curiosity, wonder, and thinking,” says Shannon Merenstein, creative director and owner of Hatch Art Studio in Point Breeze.

The mission of Hatch Art Studio is to inspire imaginations and spark creativity with its drop-in open studio, classes, and workshops.

Hatch Studio offers this week’s Maker Monday activity with three engaging ways to play with flowers. Each one requires just two or three materials — and the flowers, of course!

These three activities are suitable for all ages. Kids will get a kick out of using natural materials in a new way while using their senses to explore.

“Try presenting your child with one of these activities with as little direction as possible,” Merenstein says. “You’ll quickly see their creative confidence soar through the roof!”

Supplies:

Flowers: You can get a bouquet of daffodils for just a few dollars at the grocery store. You can use a few branches and cuttings from your yard or neighborhood.

Modeling clay or Play-Doh

Pencil and paper

Paint in a tray or on a paper plate

Thick stock paper or cardboard

Tarp, newspaper or tablecloth

Idea No. 1:

Set out a tray of flowers or greenery and pieces of clay or Play-Doh. Invite your child to build a landscape sculpture.

Older children will have fun making stories up about their sculptures, which can become fairy homes or forests or anything else they imagine.

Younger children will be satisfied with poking, smushing, spreading, and covering the flowers with the clay. The stems are perfect for standing up in the clay.

 Idea No. 2:

This one is a little messy, so cover your table or floor with a tarp, tablecloth or newspaper. Set out a tray of flowers and a tray of washable paint. Ask your child to try painting by using the flowers as brushes.

Little ones can dip and hop all over their paper. Older children might be interested in seeing the various textures each flower can make.

Talk to your child as you’re painting with the flowers together. What happens when you dip in one color and then another? What happens when you hop across the paper with your flower lightly or quickly? Can you spread color a different way? These questions encourage novel ideas and creative confidence.

Idea 3:

Draw or trace your flowers. Children are keen observers, as you probably know. Foster the important skill of observation by asking your child to draw what they see. What shape is the flower? Do you see many little petals or just a few? Can you trace your flower? Can you find out more about each part of the flower by looking? Can we trace each part and then match it with the real flower?

You only need a pencil and paper for this one, but feel free to experiment with marker drawings, crayon, pastel, or even paint or ink if you’re feeling brave!

For more Maker Monday projects and other fun ideas, visit the Kidsburgh Activities Page.