Pop Up Sunflowers < Crafty-Mummy

Flower crafts can be done all throughout the year. In spring time we see those buds appearing and pretty colours blooming. In the summer time we see daisies and buttercups. Even during winter there are flowers and plants that brighten up our homes like poinsettias. During the autumn we often see sunflowers whilst driving to the apple u-pick. These pop up sunflowers are easy for kids of all ages and smaller children will love to show them off.

Sunflower Supplies

For your pop up sunflowers you will need;

Paper cups
Paint (green & brown)
Coffee sticks/craft sticks
Yellow paper/card
Brown marker
Scissors
Glue sticks/hot glue

Start by painting the outside of the cup/pot. We also painted the inside too. You can even paint your cup a different colour if you’d prefer. Paint your coffee stick green. This will be your stalk. And the bottom part can be left unpainted. Some kids find they don’t like the paint on their hands or fingers!

While the cup and stalk are drying, it’s time to make your sunflower. Smaller children may need help with this part. But if they want to do it themselves by all means encourage them. Subsequently it will give them confidence.

**Draw around a circle shape (any size)**

If you have a circle to draw around, it makes this step a little easier. Once the circle is cut out it’s time to make the flower edges.

**Make little snips around the circle with scissors**

**Curl or fold the edges over like in the picture**

Pumpkin Seeds

To make the pumpkin seeds, use a brown marker and make some dots. This part of course is completely optional.

Alternatively use real pumpkin seeds and stick those to the centre or small brown Pom Poms work well too. Get as creative as you want. We opted for brown marker!

When the sunflower is finished, it can be stuck to the stalk. Regular school glue or glue sticks work well . Hot glue also works and it dries quicker. An adult will then need to pierce a hole in the bottom of the cup for the stalk to go into.

**Pierce a hole using a sharp object like a cutting tool**

Lastly push the sunflower down into the cup and through the hole.

Your sunflower is finished and ready to show off. 🌻

These pop up sunflowers are a cute tool when telling a story. Perhaps they can be used in a puppet show or a song about sunflowers. Regardless of how old children are, they will enjoy learning science and how things grow and change. Here are a couple of good reads for younger kids.

Some Interesting Sunflower Facts

All flowers are fascinating to learn about. And sunflowers are no different. Even as adults we can discover new and interesting facts lol! For instance, did you know that sunflowers have a history of healing?

Did you also know that;

Sunflowers track the sun! They present a behaviour called heliotropism. The buds will follow the sun as the earth moves throughout the day.
Each sunflower is made up of thousands of little flowers.
They can self pollinate or take pollen that is blown by the wind or brought over by insects.
They are one of the tallest flowers in the world. The tallest sunflower grew 30 feet and 1 inch and ended up in the Guinness world record book. That is taller than the average giraffe which is 20 feet!!
Sunflowers have traveled to space! Check out this cool diary of an astronaut who took some seeds to space and kept a blog of how they progressed. https://blogs.nasa.gov/letters/