Painted Fruit Box Flowers

Create some beautiful flowers from recycled materials and watercolour paints in this simple flower craft for kids with stunning results!

While shopping recently we picked up a large cardboard fruit tray that some apples had been displayed in (these are usually available in any supermarket to pick up, as they just throw them away otherwise!) We took it home and I set it out as a simple Invitation to Create with  some paint and large brushes. Because of the size of it they were able to stand up and paint it collaboratively from all sides of the table and it was a lovely time for chatting and practising more turn taking skills!

This took a long time (great for me to get on with jobs!) and we left it for another day to finish. We they came back to it I set out a new invitation using a palette of block watercolours, water and smaller brushes. Their extra challenge was to cover all of the empty spaces and then add some patterns and textures over the top of the precious colours, which they loved. The finished fruit box was totally unrecognisable and absolutely stunning! A work of art in its own right.

When dry, I cut the large circles into flower shapes, using the edges to form the petals. I made a range of different shapes and numbers of petals and Cakie had a try at cutting some too, although this was a challenge due to the thickness of the material.

We then simply taped them  at the back to some coloured lolly sticks (large craft sticks) which became the stems.

I covered a wooden box with some green fabric and we popped all the flowers inside, where they could stand up on display looking gorgeous and filling our hoe with happy colours!

Since we made these we have now used them to form a lovely imaginative role-play game, which I will be posting about shortly. It’s so nice to be able to use arts and crafts in play and for the children to feel proud of what they have created in the process!

What they are learning as they play:

creativity: exploring a range of materials, combining materials in 2D and 3D, working with recycled materials, layering colours and textures, blending colours, experimenting with pattern making, turning art into resources, using crafts in representative play

science/ knowledge & understanding: understanding the parts of a flower, examining petals by number and shape

phse: collaboration, turn taking, working together to complete a joint project

Cakie: 4.7

Pop: 3.0

Bean: 13 mos

Search the huge Art and Craft Archives for more ideas!

Follow my Art and Creativity for Kids board on Pinterest!