Summer Kids Crafts – Pressing Flowers

The whole Comox Valley seems to be in bloom right now. I don’t know if it was the cold spring or the incredibly hot temperatures of the last week. But, that wow of color and scent is off the charts. For the tiny person, she’s in heaven searching for ways to talk me into picking every flower in sight and trying to find new and unusual ways to preserve the ones that do end up in her hands.

A while back, we learned how to press flowers and while this isn’t a project you can finish in an hour or two, it’s a really fun summer thing because you can work on it a little at a time and have something to look forward to while you’re busy with beach runs, other craft action and camping.

These are so beautiful, a great way to preserve bits of nature from throughout the summer and a fun thing to make cards or other cool things with down the road.

Here’s what you need:

- A flower press or, a makeshift one(which is what we did) with 2 heavy boards and some bungie cords,
- White paper and newsprint,
- A dry, warm place with good airflow to set up, and
- Flowers.

Directions:

1. So, head out into the yard and collect some of the cool blooms busting out right now. We have roses, heather and lilies. We also picked some herbs like fennel and thyme just for fun.

2. Take one board and set it up on a flat surface. We used an old table base. But, you could use saw horses or a picnic table, even set it up inside if you have the space.

3. Put a piece of newsprint on the board. Then, set down white paper on top of it.

4. Arrange your flowers and other things to press on the white paper. Lay a sheet of white paper over it, then put a piece of newspaper over that. The newspaper should be changed every day or so.

5. Put the top board down onto the paper and flowers. Strap it down with a bungie cord.

6. In a week or two, you’ll have specimens for putting into your nature journal or making crafts with.

If you want to remember what you picked, you can slip a label in with each flower.

I really like this project, and so did the tiny person as she got to pick flowers out of the garden at will and she thought the smushing part was super cool.

Tags: children, crafts, flowers, grasses, Kids, Our Big Earth Media Co., pressing, Summer

Category: ARTS & LITERACY, Crafts, Nature's Classroom