Spring has sprung, but it’s still cold around here. Apart from a few crocuses, it’s pretty brown.

I was looking for a simple flower craft my kids could do that would also be compact and not easily breakable so we could send it through the mail to surprise my grandma.

Here’s what we found:

Step 1: Watercolor paint on thick paper

We used liquid watercolors and thick watercolor paper, though any card stock would work.

We picked out 6 colors that reminded us of flowers and focused on filling the paper with large blocks of color.

Then we let it dry.

Step 2: Cut Petals and Center Circles

The paper was thick, so my 5yos couldn’t do this part independently, but we cut petal shapes & circles out of the papers (once they were dry). We ended up with approx 8-10 petals + a center circle for each flower, and for our bouquet we made 6 flowers.

Step 3: Hot Glue Assembly

Using a low temp hot glue gun, we started from the back and attached the petals on top of each other in a clockwise pattern, finishing with a circle on top to hide the inner edges.

Step 4: Stems

We took simple bbq skewers and colored them with green crayons. We also tried watercolors, but the kids found the crayon easier on the round surface.

Step 5: Attach the Stems to the Flowers

We again used hot glue. The spot between the top & bottom petal created a nice gap for a generous dollop of hot glue and then the pointy side of the skewer.

Step 6: Mail/Deliver

We sent ours in a regular bubble mailer. No special accommodations needed.

They arrived at their destination. 🙂

The things I really liked about this project:

Simplicity – it took, start to finish, one afternoon, and cleanup was a breeze.

Everyday objects – we already had everything we needed, and the kids saw ordinary objects like skewers repurposed, which encourages problem solving and creative thinking.

Open-endedness – there was no right way to paint, and the cutting was forgiving too. In fact, part of the beauty of this project is the diversity and individuality of each flower. No two are alike.

Portability – these were light and traveled well, and as you can see, easy to display.