flower power! petals, play & GRAND possibilities!
- May 1
- 8 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Friday, May 1, 2026
HAPPY MAY DAY!
When we were growing up, we always celebrated May Day in school.
Did you?
We would anonymously deliver flower baskets to our neighbors,
and one of us even recalls singing and dancing around a maypole!
The celebration of May Day has always been closely connected
to themes of renewal, growth, and the beauty found in nature…
Which is why flowers are such a big symbol of the day and the season!
Here in Minnesota, it always feels like spring has truly arrived when the calendar flips to May! After weeks of topsy turvy weather, the season is finally blooming with beauty, wonder and plenty of GRAND possibilities!
In today’s post, we’re celebrating the season with flower-filled fun
designed especially for the Littles in your lives…
We’ve got petal-inspired projects, a Flower Shop play center,
and a few more possibilities to share, as well!
So gather your Littles and let’s celebrate
the joy, creativity, and sunshine that blossom this time of year!
Our simple flower crafts invite Littles to create and explore!
Coffee Filter Flowers!
Coffee filters aren’t quite as popular any more because espresso machines, etc,
have become more popular/
However, they are still inexpensive craft tools!
Laurie and her Littles used them to make coffee filter flowers this spring.
Have your Little color on the coffee filter with WASHABLE markers.
Even one- and two-year-old Littles will enjoy this.
Then, use a spray bottle to wet the coffee filter.
The colors will run together.
Watch your Littles so they don’t oversoak the coffee filters.
It works best if they just mist until the colors spread out.
The filters will dry quickly!
When they are dry, my 4-year-old Little D and I trimmed the edges to make the “flowers” look more wavy. I was just going to leave 2-year-old LIttle P’s, but she wanted the same effect, too.
Finally, glue the filters on paper, add a stem and leaves and any other decorations!
I also think these would look really pretty taped straight to the window
so the sun could shine through the filter!
Tissue Paper Flowers!
The bright colors of the tissue paper
make this long time favorite a project that Littles, preschool and older,
absolutely love… and we do, too!
Fold three or more colored sheets of tissue paper together, accordion style. (Littles LOVE choosing their color combinations!) Then wrap a pipe cleaner tightly around the middle.
Gently pull the layers of tissue paper apart to make this vibrant decor!
These tissue paper flowers brighten up any space, too,
Especially if you add a colorful paper chain!
With Cinco De Mayo right around the corner,
You’d have the perfect decoration for any gathering!
If interested, check out our Family Fiesta post, filled with lots of ideas…
Fiesta Fare (finger foods) and Fiesta Frills (decor & crafts).
Watercolor Flowers!
This is a directed drawing project that Laura did each spring
with the kindergartners in her class!
It was always impressive to see what they were able to create
with a watchful eye and listening ears!
You need very few supplies: a piece of white paper (drawing or copy), a pencil with an eraser, a permanent black marker and a set of watercolors.
Below are a few drawings of the steps I had my class follow to sketch their vase of flowers.
As you’ll notice, I’m sharing photos of my drawing outlined with black marker. This is so you can see the artwork details. Normally, we’d complete the drawing with our pencils and then I’d have 4th or 5th graders come in on their recess break and help me trace over the pencil marks with a black permanent marker. I’d reward the older kids with a treat! WIN! WIN!
We began by making a large “U” on the bottom half of the paper. Then we added a “smile” to connect the two sides of the “U”.
Next, I’d introduce three types of flower designs. The kindergartners chose where they wanted to put each flower on the top part of their paper - on one side or the other or in the middle! Then they watched closely and listened as I made each! We called them a tulip, a daisy and a rose!
You can see my pencil lines but don’t worry!
Eventually, they would get erased!
Then, we added the stems, drawing one line from the bottom of a flower to the top of the smile followed by a second line nearby. We repeated this for each flower. We also added leaves to each stem. I demonstrated different ways to make leaves but I let the children choose which ones they wanted to add.
The next two steps were probably the hardest for most kindergartners to understand but the ones who followed along carefully figured it out! We drew the line behind the flower stems, creating the inside of the vase! As we drew we lifted our pencil so it could “jump” over every stem! We repeated this process halfway down the vase, “jumping” over it to create the table the vase was sitting on. The children were amazed!
Once the pencil marks had been erased (thanks to my student volunteers) the children took turns painting their flower bouquets in small groups, using watercolors. We’d done other projects with watercolors so they had practiced washing their brushes as they switched colors which helped a lot! If you are doing this at home with Littles, you’ll want to review this step with them!
I’d mat each flower bouquet painting with a larger piece of black construction paper.
I don’t know if you can see it, but I’d turn the mat into a 3D frame
by folding and creasing the four corners.
Revisiting this project brings back such special memories
and reminded me how much I loved creating art with children!
I can’t wait to make this project with my own Littles in the years ahead!!
As many of you know, we love creating play centers for our Littles!
Laurie, however, is a pro in doing so
and she has another new center to share with us all!
You can find her Library Play Center featured in last week's post!
Setting Up Our Flower Shop!
Here are the materials I used to bring our Flower Shop to life!
✱ Plastic Flowers and Leaves
I purchased mine at the dollar store near me. (You can also look around your house or check with family/friends for old ones. Doesn’t everyone have a dusty bouquet sitting in their basement?) Cut them apart to get more use out of them.
✱ Plastic Vases, Cups & Bowls and Craft Foam
The craft foam (found at the dollar store, as well) holds the flowers in the containers! Cut to fit.
✱ Order Slips
I made one copy by hand and ran them on our printer/copier. I used markers to color a circle for each color of flower we had. (The black outlined circle was for white flowers). I also included small leaves and large leaves. The customer would tell the florist what colors and size leaves they would like, and the florist would create the bouquet from the order form.
My Littles really loved doing this!
✱ A Cash Register, Money and a Table (Or a Flat Surface to Work On)
✱ OPTIONAL - Glass Stones/Marbles for Vase Villers
I considered adding these to our center… However I do have a 2-year-old Little and, even though she doesn’t put items in her mouth any more, I decided not to chance it. My 4-year-old Little, though, would have loved it!
A Flower Shop Warning!
Beware! You will never get to be the florist.
You will always have to be the customer!
😆
The Flower Shop is Open for Business!
We did a bit of brainstorming
and here are a few more ways to celebrate Flower Power and all it offers!
Flower Power Fruit Platter!
Laura had seen Pinterest and IG posts featuring platters of veggies
arranged to look like a flower garden.
I know my Littles would love this idea from On My Kid’s Plate
Isn’t it cute?
So pretty!
Well, I adapted this idea this spring and I created my own
Flower Power Fruit Platter
It was a hit with my friends at the brunch I took it to!
I used the fruits I had on hand
- mandarins, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, raspberries and grapes -
and just had fun creating!
As I was making the board, I thought about two things!
#1. - How much fun my Littles would have helping me make one
and
#2- How much they’d love eating it!
And, finally, here are
3 more ways to bring a bit of Flower Power to your Littles,
each filled with lots of possibilities!
🌷 PETAL PROJECTS!
Give some of these ideas a try - fork painted tulips, egg carton flowers, Q-tip lilacs or paint your own flower pots!
🌷 OUTDOOR PLAY!
So many ways to explore - take a neighborhood flower walk, go on a color scavenger hunt with flowers, use sidewalk chalk to create a flower garden or plant seeds together!
🌷MORE POSSIBILITIES!
And finally - visit a nursery or a farmer’s market with your Littles, dance with scarves and pretend to be flower petals or make a flower crown!
As May blossoms around us,
we hope our flower-filled ideas inspire you
to slow down, soak in the beauty of the season,
and make sweet memories with your Littles along the way.
Do you have any special ways that you celebrate
FLOWER POWER
when spring finally arrives?
If so, we’d love to hear more…
Feel free to comment at the end of this post!
THANK YOU!
We’ll be back early next week with a new post,
We look forward to recapping our month of April with you all!
We hope you’ll come back and join us then!
Don’t forget that you can always find us
We’d love it if you stopped by to check out our latest posts!
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(We only contact you via email when we publish a new post!)
Whether you’re crafting petals, setting up a whimsical Flower Shop for an afternoon of play, or simply stopping to smell the roses, there is a unique kind of magic in seeing the world through a child's eyes. These floral adventures are about so much more than just petals and stems; they are about nourishing curiosity and growing a lifelong love for God’s creation all around us!
Cheers to messy hands and blooming imaginations…
May we each enjoy a bit of the FLOWER POWER this season has to offer!
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I love having a flower shop to sell the creations in. I can remember doing a lot fo crafts like this myself as a child and of course numerous times as a nursery and pre school teacher, but I never did them with my own children it just seems so much effort unless its for a whole class if you know what I mean. I often make fruit flowers though, even if it's jsut for me and hubby. Thanks for joining in with #pocolo
Stopping in again with congratulations! :) This post was one of the most popular at the Will Blog for Comments #83 linkup, so it will be in the spotlight for the next 2 weeks (throughout #84), starting today. There's a badge you can save from there to celebrate with your readers here, if you like. Thanks for being a great part of our linkup! Happy weekend. :) See you Monday.
What wonderful flower power activities you guys have. I love the flower shop. I'm sure the littles just loved that.
Thanks' bunches for sharing with Sweet Tea & Friend's this month dear friends.
I love the fruit and vegetable platter flowers.
I love all the flower activities for spring. The art is cute and the food looks tasty.