How To Make Petal Art For Absolute Beginners
Petal art projects are fun and easier than you might think, even if you’re an absolute beginner. It’s a great way to have some creative fun with your kids too.
Petal art is something I’ve wanted to have a go at for so long. I used to sketch a lot as a teenager, but life got busy and I lost any skills I might have once had.
No joke – I even draw stickmen badly – ha!
So I was more than a little hesitant to try my hand at making petal art because I was convinced the end result would look dreadful, and nothing at all like the beautiful images in my head.
But if there’s one thing the last few weeks has given us, it’s a little extra time to explore fun activities and get a little creative.
Filled with inspiration from extremely talented artists, like Limzy, I asked GinGin if she’d like to have a go. Of course she wanted to! She’s very creative and loves flowers, so it’s the perfect nature art project for her.
Want to try this with your kids? Pin it for later!
On our daily exercise we went for a walk to forage for fallen petals and flowers heads.
You really shouldn’t pick wild flowers, so look for ones that have already fallen to the ground, or take them from your own garden.
We really wanted Magnolia petals but they were all still firmly on the trees.
But we found some lovely Rhododendron petals, and entire Camellia flower heads that had already fallen. So we collected them for our petal art project.
BUT we should have dried them as soon as we got home. We didn’t, and the next day they were a brown, shrivelled mess!
Luckily, my Mother’s Day bouquet was just beginning to wilt. And so we took the scissors to some of my beautiful blooms and used those instead!
Our Petal Pictures
These are the petal art pictures that GinGin and me made. And I have to admit that they turned out a lot better than I thought they would.
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How To Make Petal Art
Materials You’ll Need
You won’t need much for your petal art project. Just make sure you have:
- petals – these can be foraged fallen petals, flowers from your garden or from a bouquet
- Paper or card
- pencils to draw and to colour
- PVA Glue – you can always use a glue stick if that’s all you have!
- Small paint brush or cotton buds
- Scissors
- Use of a microwave to dry your petals, or a flower press if prefer
A Note About Petals
If you want to keep your petal art picture for longer than just a few days, then you will need to dry or press your flower petals before you start.
Pressing flowers takes around 4-5 days. Drying them in a microwave takes around 2 minutes, but the colours of the petals will change.
If you’re happy for your petal art picture to wilt, then just use petals straight from the flower.
Instructions
- Begin by drawing a picture of a woman or a girl. This can be as detailed or as simple as you want to make it.
- Add a touch of colour to all the places in your picture where you don’t plan to stick down petals
- Apply a small amount of glue to an area where you want to stick petals using either a small paint brush or cotton bud
- Place your petals on the picture. It’s best to start at the bottom and work your way up, so the petals lay nicely over one another in a layered effect.
- Wait for your petal art to dry!
What Skills Is My Child Developing?
This is a great project for kids and adults to enjoy together. Even for toddlers so get them involved too!
It’ll help your child develop some of their key skills including:
- Exploring the world – you can talk about nature and the seasons with your child while you forage for petals
- Creativity and imagination – let you child draw, colour and design their own petal art picture, just offer help if they ask for it
- Fine Motor Skills – picking up and sticking the petals, holding the paint brush or cotton bud
- Confidence and independence – being able to transform a few petals and a blank piece of paper into a beautiful petal art picture will give your child a real sense of achievement
- Sensory – some children don’t like to have messy hands, but this will encourage them to feel the soft petals and the sticky glue too!
- Hand-Eye Coordination – especially for younger children to able to place the petals on the glue
Now it’s your turn. Head outside (if it’s safe to do so) and forage for some fallen petals for you and your child to have a go at creating some beautiful petal art pictures too!
What Next?
If you like this post then you might enjoy these to:
- 7 Reasons We Love to Play Yahtzee!
- 21 Non-Toxic Toys Your Toddler Will Love
- Positively Puzzling With Ravensburger LOL 3D Puzzle
- My Epic Parenting Fail And How I Overcame It
- 7 Reasons Why I’m Not “Homeschooling”
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Hi, I’m Jennie and I’m the blogger and content creator behind the award-winning blog GinGin & Roo, a UK parenting and lifestyle blog.
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