Activity Idea: Window Bouquets
no comments
We’ve been making, what our 3-year-old calls, Window Bouquets and they are simple and stunning! You’ll need scissors, cardstock paper, clear contact paper, and small flowers and leaves from outside. The first time we did it we gathered all the small things we could from our yard. It was part treasure hunt and part scavenger hunt – it was exciting to find beauty in small places. I was surprised how many flowers both girls found, mostly from blooming weeds like the purple blooms of Creeping-Charlie, Dandelions, Violets, and Clovers. They also used some of our bold, red Bleeding Hearts and green Ferns.
The girls sorted and explored the treasure. I cut frames out of cardstock paper, letting our oldest (3-year-old) cut out her own circle with her safety scissors. I stuck the frame to the contact paper and the girls got to work sticking objects inside the frame on the contact paper.
The second and third time we did this activity I sent both girls outside with the frame already stuck onto the contact paper. As they found things they stuck it directly on the inside of the frame! Both ways worked well. It was fun to see our 21-month-old making her own artistic bouquet as she found beautiful treasures outside.
Once you’re done adding the flowers, stick another layer of contact paper on top of the objects to seal everything in and then trim the edges. We love hanging them in windows or against a white wall. They don’t last forever, so take pictures! Eventually the flowers and leaves get brown and fade. Some of the ones we made with a lot of leaves had condensation, which made us wonder – what was different about the leaves compared to the flowers? I want to experiment with drying flowers so may try this activity with dried flowers another time and see if they last longer! That could make a fun winter time craft too!
Left: You can see the leaves and the condensation. We hung it in the sun and it dried out, but has since faded and turned brown.
Middle: Made by a 21-month-old.
Right: Made by a 3-year-old. She wanted to include a lot of dandelion seeds because she thinks they are magical.
This has been our go-to craft activity lately!
Let us know how it goes for you! What small treasures did you find?
Previous PostDesigning a Flower Cutting GardenNext PostFlowers for a Child’s Cutting Garden
