I love making tissue paper flowers with my students- not only is it an authentic craft, but the kiddos really enjoy making them, even the boys! During our last week of school this year, I had small groups of Kindergartners make flowers... a colorful spring treat!
I first laid out the materials- tissue paper in a variety of colors, pipe cleaner stems (I usually cut them in half which makes them easier to handle for little hands), scissors, and small pieces of paper for their names. Each kiddo was instructed to choose 4 pieces of paper, either different colors, all the same, or any combination. Some kiddos really got into making a pattern with two colors- love the math connection! Once they had chosen their colors, we began constructing the flowers (see the step by step pictorial below). With Kindergartners, this is definitely a small group or lots of helping hands activity. It took a group of 5-6 about 15-20 minutes to complete as I take it slow and be sure all kiddos are doing ok. Often they need assistance for folding, cutting, or scrunching the paper. With older kids, I can do a whole class without much difficulty.
Tips: Go step by step! At each point, I say 'Watch, don't do' as I model how the step is done, making sure it is clear what we are going to do next. Many kiddos think they know what to do next, but this can lead to disaster lol.
Be sure when they are cutting they are holding onto the folded corner so it isn't cut. This step is laden with epic fails- they cut off the folded corner, thereby making it impossible to create the flower. I always have a few who do this, which means they have to start again. Be prepared for this eventuality!
When scrunching- one sheet at a time and don't pull up! There is always one flower that pops off the pipe cleaner stem :) If all sheets are scrunched at the same time, you will have a bud, which is lovely, but not poofy.
Once done, these flowers make a wonderful bulletin board or door decoration! Display them for a week or so before returning them to the kiddos- they will love all the compliments! And for Days of the Dead, see my instructions for making paper marigolds on a previous blog post here
MAKING TISSUE PAPER FLOWERS FOR CINCO DE MAYO and are looking for additional resources? Check out our printable minibook in our shop!
This is so cute! I hope to do this with my own kids one day or when I go back to teaching. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThey are so fun! I love using them to make a border on my bulletin boards- looks fantastic!
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