Written by Will Kawalec
Lead Play to Learn Facilitator
Materials:
Egg carton (pulp carton preferred), paint or markers, pipe cleaners or straws (green if possible), popsicle sticks (optional) empty jar (or make a vase here) buttons or beads, glue,tape.
Length:
Set up: 5 Minutes
Activity 20-30 Minutes
Academic Subject(s):
Art
This art project will repurposed old egg cartons into a beautiful bouquet of flowers that can be put on displays for the entire house to see or given as a beautiful Mother’s Day gift!
Directions:
Before beginning have an adult cut the egg carton into individual pieces so that each egg slot is separated from each other. Lay out the rest of the materials for the child.
Step 1: Have the child color or paint the egg carton pieces any color they would like, try to emphasize natural colors of flowers. You can look around your own neighborhood to get ideas! If you want you can stack a second carton to give your flower more dimension. The second egg cup could be the same color or a new color! Stacking the egg cartons is optional.
Step 2: Glue a bead or button to the assembled and painted carton in the center. This button represents the stigma of a flower or the part that holds the pollen.
Step 3: Connect a pipe cleaner to the opposite of the beaded side and push it through the bottom of the egg carton. You may need a grown up to help you with this step. The pipe cleaner represents the stem of the flower.
Step 4: Now that the flower has been assembled, you can repeat this process to make a bouquet.
Step 5: Taking an empty jar fill it with the newly created bouquet. You can make all your flowers look the same or different! Use your imagination!
Step 6 (optional): If you have popsicle sticks tidily glue them around the jar to make an even more detailed vase. You can also paint the jar or use stickers to decorate!
Show off the flowers and jar, use as a centerpiece at the dinner table make sure it can be seen! This project can also be used for a special Mother’s Day gift! This project also teaching children about one of the 3 R’s that help our planet – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Today we are reusing
Vocab Words:
Recycle– to use again through the process of turning an item into a raw material and making a new item. I recycled my plastic bottles so they could be used to make new plastic bags.
Reuse – to use something again without changing its structure. I reused the egg cartons in this art project by painting them into flowers.
Stem– the main body and support of a plant. The stem of a sunflower is really sturdy and supports the plant.
Roots– the part of a plant that reaches into the ground helping the plant to gain nutrients. The oak tree in my backyard has really deep roots, that’s how it grew so tall.
Vase– a decorative container. We always put our fresh flowers into a vase on the table.
