Flower arrangements are popular gifts, but buying pre-made designs can be expensive. Use this activity to help your child create their own simple floral design for gifting or simply for fun.
Gather the needed materials.
Materials
- Assorted fresh flowers and foliage
- A container (plastic cups will work or any type of water proof container)
- Wet floral foam
- Scissors
- Optional: floral anchor tape
Collect the supplies including: containers (something as simple as a plastic cup will work – choose the size of your container based on the amount of flowers you have available), wet floral foam (make sure it says ‘wet’ on the package), anchor tape (optional), scissors and assorted flowers and foliage.
You can harvest flowers and foliage from your garden if available. If harvested from the garden, it is best to cut them early in the morning and immediately place in a bucket of water to make sure they don’t wilt. Zinnias are a great choice because they are available in a wide array of colors, are easy to grow and have sturdy stems for arranging.
You can also find flowers at local grocery stores and florists. Daisies, mums, carnations (regular or mini), baby’s breath and leatherleaf are some floral industry standards that are usually fairly inexpensive and are also durable and long lasting.
Use floral anchor tape to hold the wet floral foam in place.
Place the floral foam in a tub of water until fully saturated. Cut pieces of foam to fit your containers. About ½ inch of the foam should stick out above the container. If cut to a close fit, the foam should be secure. Floral anchor tape (essentially a thin duck tape), can be used to secure the foam if needed. To use, place anchor tape in a cross using 2 pieces that intersect off center.
Make sure to let kids know that it is important not to press the foam tightly because the air holes in the foam fill with water and help keep your flowers looking fresh for a few days.
Next kids can start placing the flowers and foliage. Start with the foliage. Before placing the stems in the foam, re-cut each stem and remove the leaves on the bottom inch or two so that you have a smooth stem to insert into the foam. Once you stick the stem in the foam it will stay in place as long as you only stick it in once. After you have a light covering of foliage, begin inserting the flowers.
Once again re-cut the stems, clean off bottom leaves and stick them into the foam one time.
Simple round arrangements are good designs for beginners. To help the arrangement take shape, tell younger kids that they want to think of the arrangement like half of a basketball and you want to make sure to cover all sides.
If you are working with older kids, provide them with more detailed instructions on flower placement. Instruct them after inserting the foliage to begin the flower arranging by creating a design skeleton by placing one flower directly in the middle and 4 more horizontal to the table spaced out evenly around the arrangement. Once they have finished the skeleton, then they can fill in with the other flowers placed in the space between the skeleton flowers.
Adding in more flowers
Once the designs are done, make a special card to go with your arrangement. Remember to keep the floral foam moist to make sure your flowers continue to look fresh for a long as possible.
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