STREAM Activity: Springtime Flower Paint

Create your own paint out of flowers!

Activity best for children ages 2 and up

Springtime has arrived and the weather is getting warmer. Once winter is over, spring takes over and the flowers and plants begin to bloom and grow again. Some plants grow well in the cold while others grow much better in warm weather, like flowers! Flowers have been an inspiration to many people and are so amazing that many artists and painters have taken inspiration from flowers. Famous painters like Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet have painted famous paintings of flowers that we can see and admire. Today, we are going to make our own paint out of… flowers! To celebrate the new season, springtime, and the flowers that bloom, we will create our own Springtime Flower Paint to use for our springtime painting!

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Materials:

Sandwich-sized zip bags

Flowers sorted into different colors

1 cup of warm water

Rolling pin or flat board

Small bowls or jars

Paper

Paint brushes

Guiding Questions:

Have you noticed plants or flowers starting to grow outside?

What do you observe after you mix the warm water with the flowers?

What happens when two colors mix?

Directions

Step 1

Explore your garden or nature outside. Look for flowers with colors you’d like to turn into paint.

Be sure the flowers you find are OK to pick! You can always ask a grown-up for help.

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Step 2

Pick the petals off of the flowers. Separate them into piles.

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Step 3

Add your petals into a zip bag. Be sure to separate the different flowers into different zip bags!

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Step 4

Add warm water into the bag. Add enough water to soak the petals but not too much or else the flower mixture will become too diluted.

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Step 5

Use a rolling pin or board to flatten out the petals. This is going to help get all the color out of the flowers and into the water.

Soak for about an hour or more for better results!

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Step 6

Pour out your paint mixture into bowls or jars. Then you can grab your paint brush and start painting away!

Using card stock or tougher paper is recommended!

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Grown Ups-Are you looking for more ways to extend your child’s learning? Check out these extension activities to build upon today’s STREAM activity!

Reading Connections

“Finding Spring” by Carin Berger

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Real World Connections

Being able to create materials like paint by using something we can find in nature is a process that is used all over the world! It is important to be able to create things we need by using natural resources, like plants or flowers to make things not only more natural but to help protect our environment.