The Imagination Tree

Creative play and learning for kids

  • Home
  • Welcome
    • About Me
    • Popular Posts
    • Play Challenge
    • Subscribe
  • Age
    • Baby
    • Toddler
    • Preschooler
    • School Age
  • Activities
    • Literacy
    • Numeracy
    • Creativity
    • Physical
    • PHSE
    • Science
  • Resources
    • Spaces
    • Toys
    • Books
  • Contact
  • Kindness Elves

Painted Fruit Box Flowers

April 18, 2013 by Anna Ranson

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

Recycled watercolour flower craft

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!

Invitation to create with a fruit box, paints and large brushes

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.Beautiful watercolour painting  on a recycled fruit carton

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.Flowers cut from cardboard

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

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!

Garden of painted cardboard flowersWhat 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!

Related Posts

  • Invitation to Examine and Draw FlowersInvitation to Examine and Draw Flowers
  • Mini-Masterpiece Thank You CardsMini-Masterpiece Thank You Cards
  • Straw Blown PaintingsStraw Blown Paintings
  • Egg Carton FlowersEgg Carton Flowers
  • Rainbow Cloud Craft: The Story of the Kindness Elves bookRainbow Cloud Craft: The Story of the Kindness Elves book
  • 12 Autumn Leaves Art Activities12 Autumn Leaves Art Activities

Filed Under: Activities, Age, Art, Art, Art and Craft, Big Kids Crafts, Colour Mixing, Colours, Craft, Create, Creativity, Decorations, Flowers, Garden, Growing, Invitations to Play, Learn, Paint, Painting, Plants, Preschooler, Recycled Crafts, Toddler Tagged With: Art, Craft, Creativity, Flowers, Nature, Painting

« Nursery Rhyme Party for Baby’s 1st Birthday
Little Red Riding Hood Storytelling Dramatic Play »

Comments

  1. Cait Hewitt says

    April 19, 2013 at 12:51 pm

    I’m so impressed that you can do jobs while your children paint. If my daughter (2 1/2) has paints out I daren’t take my eyes off her for a moment if I don’t want it ending up on the floor, the sofa and the table! She has little moments of madness when it seems she just can’t help herself and has developed her own words for naughty mess-making. “Dank” for throwing things on the floor and “swabbing it around” for making as much mess as possible before I can swoop in!

  2. CHI Canada says

    April 26, 2013 at 4:49 pm

    Good post, i will share with my friends.

Trackbacks

  1. Get Crafty with MAD Blog Awards Best Craft Blog Finalists | The MAD Blog Awards says:
    September 13, 2013 at 1:50 pm

    […] with her girls, but also makes the craft super “accessible” to them. Here are some pretty recycled flowers they […]

The Imagination Tree on FacebookThe Imagination Tree on TwitterThe Imagination Tree on PinterestThe Imagination Tree on G+RSS feed from The Imagination TreeThe Imagination Tree straight to your inbox

Search The Imagination Tree

About The Imagination Tree Hello and welcome! I'm Anna, Mama of 4, early years teacher and play enthusiast from the UK! Click here to read more about me.

The Kindness Elves Store
Play Ideas on The Imagination Tree

Create with The Imagination Tree

Makes on The Imagination Tree

Sign up for our FREE emails:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Categories

Archives

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT