Create a Pretty Pressed Plant Print

April showers bring May flowers! Celebrate the beginning of the blooming season with your child by helping her turn beautiful blossoms into vibrantly painted prints. She'll make these lovely prints by marking a picture on a flat surface using a specially-made plate. This fun activity introduces her to some basic science and math concepts. Collect and type different plant specimens or take time for a mini-lesson on the growing cycle before starting the printmaking process. The printing itself gives you an opportunity to talk about the shapes, textures, and colors created in this technique.

What You Need:

• Tempera paint
• Paint brush
• Cardboard square (reuse a piece of a moving or packing box)
• Clear drying, non-toxic glue
• White or light colored paper
• Flowers and plants
• Scissors

What To Do:

1. Ask her to collect a variety of plant and flower specimens. Encourage her to try to figure out the types of the plants by looking them up in a book or on the Internet.
2. Help her cut the plant or flower into a unique shape. For a more abstract printing experience, allow her to explore cutting and piecing together plant parts and different angles.
3. She can now arrange the flower or plant pieces on the cardboard. Ask her to glue the pieces to the cardboard; they should be raised above the cardboard level. Have her set it aside to dry.
4. Once dry, she's ready to start printing! Ask her to choose a color (or mix several together), and paint the color onto the flower or plant.
5. Instruct her to firmly press the painted flower or plant onto a piece of light colored paper.
6. Have her peel the paper off to reveal the print, and repeat!
7. She can continue the printing process by making multiple images from the same plate. These can be displayed as is, or she can add extra art materials to each one. Try a mixed media print/collage by adding real flowers with glue, fabric scraps, ribbon, or felt.