Find Flowers to Press
Poetry and stories that connect to flowers beg to be illustrated with a collage of dried flowers. And now is the time to gather flowers to create some art.
April is a month when flowers begin to bloom. Depending on where you live there might be violets (purple/blue or white), daffodils, jonquils, and other flowers such as irises. There are many fun things to make with dried flower blooms but it takes 2-3 weeks to dry the flowers and then to make the art, bookmarks, or other objects. To get ready for this, you might search for the flowers now, dry them, and in a couple of weeks we will be ready to create some fun art projects. And to write or collect some favorite poems or stories to connect with our flowers.
1) Plan a flower foraging walk outside of your house.
2) Take a plastic bucket to put your flowers in. Pick only the blooms and a few inches of the stem. Be careful not to disturb the entire plant. And pick only where you are permitted to pick them. Try collecting the flowers on a sunny day when they will not be wet or covered with dew.
3) When you get the flowers home, gently take the blossoms off the stems, and a few leaves / stems that you may want to dry/press.
4) Locate a very fat book, a telephone book, or two heavy objects such as two bricks. Open the book, and put a piece of newspaper (or parchment paper) on the page. If using objects such as a brick, put the paper on top of one of the bricks.
5) Place the flower, face down on the newspaper. Make sure it will be covered by the top of the book or the other brick.
6) Put a piece of newspaper, or the parchment paper on top of the flowers and then close the book or put the second heavy object on top of the flowers. If the flowers are not under the heavy object or are sticking out of the book they will not be pressed.
7) The newspaper will help absorb the moisture from the flower so don't skip that part.
8) We will leave the flowers for at least two weeks.
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McElmeel, Sharron (2020, April 17). Spotlight on Literacy #8 - Find Flowers to Press. Reading Trove. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readingtrove-8
