My kids love flowers (probably because I love flowers 🙂). They love to cut flowers from the garden and pick them out from the grocery store. I love to have impromptu arranging parties with my kids whenever time and extra floral product allow. I’m going to share my secrets with you so you can expose your kids to flowers and buy yourself an hour off of parenting.

• 5-10 hard stemmed flowers per child
• Oasis Foam (green foam used to arrange flowers) or waterproof tape (email me to purchase)
• Clippers (email me to purchase)
• Small metal bucket or vase (in your cupboard or available by emailing me)

As with any children’s project, the key to success is to get all the prep work done ahead of time. Before you get your kids involved, clean the flowers so they are ready to go. I normally give my children leftover flowers from a floral workshop, but it is so fun to let your kids pick out the flowers from a farmer’s market or grocery store. The key is getting flowers with hard, sturdy stems (think mums, carnations, roses….not daffodils, tulips, or calla lilies) so they hold up easy and stick into the oasis or vase. I clean all the extra leaves off the stems, separate individual blooms from multi bloom stems (like mums or lilies) and cut stems to a manageable length.

Depending on the age of your children, you may want to prepare your vase or container yourself, but my 6 year old loves this step. Cut the dry oasis foam to fit the vase with a dull knife. Fill the container with water and let the oasis soak until saturated with water.

If you don’t want to bother with oasis (or if you don’t have any handy), you can make a grid on top of the vase with floral tape or waterproof packing tape. Make squares on the top of the vase by running 2-3 pieces of tape one direction, and 2-3 the opposite (think tic tac toe board). This helps keep the flowers in place while your florist in the making creates.

Once the vase and flowers are prepped, it's time for your kids to dig in and create. Remember, there are no rules. Sit back and watch them explore, design, create, smell and delight.