On a recent visit with my parents Immy had a lovely time collecting flowers, petals and nuts from around their garden. When my Mum sent me a photo of an arrangement she had made in a bowl, I suggested she collect some more to bring home for us to use in some creative activities. She came home a colourful collection of flowers, petals and leaves and the next morning we had a thorough look around our own garden for others to add.
I love that we had so found so many colours, and not only in the flowers – we had leaves in many shades of green, as well as brown, grey, yellow, red, pink and even a deep, deep purple. Immy was obviously inspired by the colours and textures and was excited to get started with creating with this natural bounty of artistic potential.
Making Flower Fairies & Other Colourful Collage Creatures
You will need:
- Lightweight card stock or cardboard
- Lead pencil or permanent marker pen
- White craft glue, glue pot and brush
- Scissors
- Collection of leaves and petals
To make:
Draw your selected creature onto the card stock with pencil or permanent marker.
Using white craft glue to secure the pieces, adorn your drawing with the colourful petals and leaves, trimming pieces with scissors as necessary.
Enjoy the process so much that you make another.
And then a butterfly.
And then the daintiest Stegasaurus you have ever seen. Stop only because it’s dinner time and ask again first thing the next morning to make more natural collage creatures!
A few notes about creating with plants: This activity is only suitable for children old enough not to mouth objects. Please only allow children to collect leaves, flowers, nuts and seeds from plants and trees you are familiar with to avoid poisonous plants. Talk with your child about respecting plants by collecting flowers and leaves from the ground around the plant wherever possible and only taking a few leaves or flowers from a plant when necessary. Ensure children wash their hands thoroughly after handling plant parts.
What sorts of creatures would you child most like to create?
If you are looking for more inspiration for creating with kids don’t leave without checking out my book, Time to Create…
Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.
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