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Flower Power
Author: Sarah Pounders
Overview
Many garden activities lend themselves to audiences with different
needs and abilities.
- Plastic cups:
choose smaller cups if you have a small number of flowers to work
with; use larger cups if some students have challenges with motor skills or control over their hands
- Wet floral
foam (make sure the package reads "wet floral foam" -- there are
other kinds)
- Anchor tape
and duct tape (optional)
- Assorted flowers
and foliage
- Scissors: if needed provide adaptive scissors (such as squeeze scissors or spring-loaded scissors)
Background Information and Laying the Groundwork
Teach students
about the different parts of a flower and their purpose. For background
information and ideas, check out “Seeds: The Promise of Life!”,
and "Flower
Courtship."
Making a flower
arrangement is an enjoyable, creative activity with flexibility
to accommodate different skill and ability levels. Throughout the
instructions, we offer suggestions on how to adapt each step
for success with
different audiences.
Activity
Steps |
Example |
1.
Collect your materials.
If
you have them in your garden, harvest flowers and
foliage there. It's best to cut them early in the
morning and immediately place in a bucket of water to prevent
wilting. Choose plants with sturdy stems, such as zinnias
(a great choice: they come in a wide array of
colors and are
easy to grow), daisies, and ferns. If you feel
comfortable with the skill level of your students, they can
harvest the flowers for the activity.
You
can also find flowers at local grocery stores and florists.
Ask if they have discounts or donations available.
Check with high
school horticulture programs -- the teacher may be able to
order flowers for you at a wholesale rate for educational
purposes.
Daisies, mums,
carnations (regular or mini), statice, and leatherleaf are the
best options for purchased
flowers because they are durable and have sturdy stems. Fresher
flowers are more tolerant of rough handling if your students
possess excessive
energy.
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2.
Tell students that today you are going to make a floral arrangement.
Ask where they've seen floral arrangements (their answers
may include holiday gatherings, weddings, at church, funerals,
birthday
parties, etc.). Explain that arranging flowers is an
art that has been practiced for thousands of years; in
our society we often
use flowers
as gifts to celebrate special occasions. Giving someone
flowers is a way to express feelings such as love, appreciation,
and sympathy, and it makes people feel special.
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3.
Let the children help you place the floral foam in a tub of water until it's fully
saturated. Cut the foam into pieces that fit into the plastic
cups. About
a half inch of the foam should stick out above the cup. If
cut to a close
fit, the foam should be secure and not require taping.
Explain to students that it's important not to press the foam too hard. If the air pockets in the foam get crushed, they can't fill with water and the flowers won’t last as long.
Students can fill the cups or if needed, this
step can be completed before the activity by volunteers.
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4.
If your students have control issues and you are afraid the
cups may end up on the floor, you can secure the foam
with anchor tape. Use two pieces that intersect
off center.
The
wet foam makes the cups heavy enough to stay in place
for most students; however, for students who may have
difficulty controlling their hands, secure the cups to
the
work
surface with a loop of duct tape on the bottom.
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5.
Make a sample arrangement for the class.
Start
with some foliage. Before placing
the stems
in the foam, re-cut each stem and remove the leaves
from the bottom inch or two so that you have a smooth stem
to
insert
into the foam. Choose where to stick the stem: Once
in the foam it will stay in place -- as
long
as
you
only
stick
it
in once!
If you stick and re-stick stems, the foam won't hold them as tightly.
Tell
students to think of the arrangement as half a basketball. Their goal is to cover it entirely. |
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6.
After you have a light
covering of foliage, begin inserting the flowers. As with
the foliage, re-cut the stems, remove the bottom leaves,
choose where to stick the stems, and insert them into the
foam -- just once.
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7. If you are working with older students (middle school or high school),
provide them with more detailed instructions on flower placement. After they insert the foliage, instruct them to create a design skeleton: Place one flower in the middle and four others oriented horizontally and spaced evenly around the arrangement, like the points on a compass.
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8.
Once the design skeleton is in place, fill the gaps with other flowers.
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9. Once
you've completed an example, distribute the remaining
flowers to students. If you have a limited number of flowers,
tell students how many of each flower they can use and invite them to start trimming stems and making their arrangements.
If
students are not able to use scissors (either because of age or ability) or if time is limited, have volunteers
pre-cut the stems to the approximate length needed
and then place them in a second
cup of water for each student. When it's time to arrange the flowers,
each student will receive a supply cup. |
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Making Connections
10.
Once they're finished, create a name label to attach
to each cup using tape and a marker. Give the
flowers
to people at the school (such as secretaries or cafeteria
staff) as a way for the kids to say "thank
you," or ask the students to take the arrangements home
and give
them to someone special.
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- Instruct
each student to write a poem inspired by the
flowers or the arranging activity. Choose a style of poem based
on the curriculum standards for
your grade
level.
- Explore
the ‘language of flowers.’ Flowers
have been used to express meaning and send messages throughout
history. Visit the FTD
website to discover the
meanings associated with some common flowers.
Develop a class list of flowers and meanings; then have students use pictures
of flowers (e.g., from old seed catalogs) to create
an
encoded
message for a friend or family member.
- White carnations provide
a simple, dramatic way for students to witness water moving through the vascular tissue of flower petals. Obtain 2 to 4 white carnations and 2 vases (or jars). Fill the vases with water and add several drops of blue food coloring to one vase and red food coloring to the other. Re-cut the carnation stems and place 1 or 2 flowers in each vase. Ask students to observe the flowers over the next few days and record their observations. Discuss the observations as a group and ask students to make conclusions about their findings. (As the stems draw water upwards, the flowers take on the color of the dye.)
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