Today's Classroom Activities :

Flowers

Flower Wash Pictures
Art Wet the entire surface of a piece of paper with a sponge. Sprinkle very small amounts of different- colored dry tempera paint or splatter watercolors on the wet surface. Tilt the piece of paper in different directions so the paint blends over the entire background. Use black crayons or heavy black markers to draw a silhouette picture over the background. Or cut flower shapes from the color-blended paper and glue them onto a dark background paper. Cut stems and leaves to complete the picture.

Sunflowers
Art
Step 1: Give each student a stiff piece of 12" by 18" paper and ask them to draw a circle near the top.

Step 2: Glue sunflower seeds inside the circle.

Step 3: Yellow petals, green stems, green grass and blue sky can be painted on with brushes or fingers.

Fantastic Flowers
Art Fold five pieces of 6" x 9" colored copier paper accordion-style to make a six-inch fan. Scrunch together one end of the fan and staple it to hold the fan shape. Staple all five fans together in a circle. Cut a circle from shiny paper, wallpaper or an old greeting card and glue it in the center to hide the place where all the fan ends are joined together. Staple the flower to an oaktag background, add a stem of construction paper and a flowerpot cut from old scraps of fabric or wallpaper. Have students label the plant parts and add seeds to the center.

On the Spot Research
Science/Research Ask a local florist or grocery store to donate a handful of various fresh flowers to your class. Divide students into pairs or groups and give each a flower to identify and research. Students can write the information on an index card to display with their flower.

Paper Cup Flowers
Art/Science
Step 1: Provide small paper drinking cups with flat bottoms. Students cut slits down the sides of the cup using pinking or scalloping scissors.

Step 2: Fold the cut strips outward to make "flower petals." Paint the inside of the cup, first applying white glue if the interior of the cup is waxed. Let the "flowers" dry.

Step 3: Glue the flowers to oaktag, paint stems, leaves and seeds at the appropriate places and label if desired. Use a wallpaper sample to make a flowerpot for the flower.