Tissue Paper Forsythia Bush

Nothing is making us happier than the fact that spring has officially arrived here in our part of New England. One of my favorite parts of early spring is seeing the bright yellow flowers of the forsythia bushes. I've pointed them out so often as we drive around town now the boys are eager to spot them too.

Unfortunately, we don't have a forsythia bush in our own yard so we decided to create our own tissue paper forsythia bushes.

Wildflower Color Science

This week we kicked off our Simple Summer Themes with Science Week. We've had a blast with a variety of science experiments and explorations, all using materials we have on hand.  For this experiment we were inspired to use something from nature: wildflowers.

I love that this time of year both in the yard and along the roads, flowers are blooming. The boys and I went for a walk the other day and collected several different varieties of white wildflowers with the classic flower dyeing experiment in mind. We were curious to see how it worked with wildflowers. 

Photograph Paper Plate Flowers

Every year it's fun to think of something handmade and sweet we can make for the "grandmothers" for Mother's Day. But, we usually have to wait a little bit to share the project as my mom regularly reads our posts. (Proof that moms never stop supporting you, no matter your age or endeavor.)

We made these photograph paper plate flowers to decorate our Mother's Day gifts last weekend, and I just love how they turned out. Although we made them at home, this could be an easy classroom project too! 

In fact, the former preschool teacher in me would love to see a whole bulletin board of these in a classroom. 

May Day Tissue Flower Wreath

It's been so amazing to have some green color pop up in our world this week, it truly and finally feels like spring. And while the green has come, we're still awaiting those colorful May flowers. But as we probably have a small wait still (although really, I think it's only small) we put together these May Day Tissue Flower Wreaths.

We enjoyed making paper plate wreaths at St. Patrick's Day, so these were a great spin off for a new season. 

Wax Paper Flower Garden

When you were a kid did you ever do the project in the summer time where you pressed flower petals between two pieces of waxed paper? I can remember loving getting help using the iron to press two sheets of wax paper together with pretty petals in between. I was reminded of that craft this winter through a school project. As we don't have any flowers to gather and press, we made our own flowers with tissue paper scraps.

Our desire for something colorful came with a return to the very wintery weather we've had this week. As it snowed again the other day, we realized we needed to see some color as we looked through our windows.

Red Clover Painting Exploration

We're really excited to be participating in the first "Tour the World by Flower" blog hop as hosted by Playground Parkbench. Bloggers from all over the world are sharing their state or national flower and a fun kid project idea focused on that flower. It's been really fun to see all the different ideas pop up from the amazing group of bloggers.

This week the spring flowers are in their full glory here in Northern New England. Everything seems to be blooming, each day the boys and I are excited to see something newly opened up. And although some of the currently blooming flowers (lilacs, tulips, apple trees, irises to name a few) are family favorites, none of them are our Vermont state flower: the Red Clover.

The red clover is such a simple, almost practical flower. Of course it makes sense to be our state flower when we think of all the farm fields full of the clover plants, blooming a little later in the summertime. Perfect for animals and insects like bees, adding just a pop of color to the green fields. 

Teacher Appreciation Gift: Seed & Flower Craft

We had a lot of fun this week thinking of ways to treat the boys' teachers. Although I always appreciate the things I receive as a teacher during this week, I also know how much I value the teachers who take care of my boys when I need to be working. It takes a lot of energy, care, and dedication to be a teacher of young children and we definitely know some of the best.

Throughout the week we thought of small ways to say thank you, so that we could provide treats for more than one day. These Teacher Appreciation Seed & Flower craft gifts were easy to put together and such a great kick off for spring. Our inspiration for the gift came from our Teacher Appreciation Sunflowers a few years ago. 

Spring Flower & Coffee Playdough Invitation

As we're still in the throes of winter we are definitely getting ready for some color in our white landscape. A recent trip to the dollar store inspired us to try some playdough play with a spring theme. 

At the dollar store we stocked up on colorful fake flowers, florist rocks, floral butterflies, and small plastic pots. Already the colors started to make us smile!

And in an effort to create a playdough that looks a little more like real dirt, we got creative with Daddy's left over coffee.

Egg Carton Tulips

In the past we've had fun using egg cartons for projects, we've made caterpillars and love bugs. So we were looking for a spring themed project and decided to make egg carton tulips!