A Bloomin' Good Time (Summer Fun Idea with Kids)

Last year, at the Dallas Museum of Art, I saw a great idea I could easily bring home for the kiddos. By "good idea," know I mean simple, inexpensive, a lot of bang for your buck, and educational. They had taken flower leis, separated the silk flowers from the leis, placed the plethora of silk flowers in a container, and added some buckets and shovels to the area. Voila! An activity center that the kids really enjoyed.

When we returned home, I made my way to Dollar Tree, where I picked up several leis. I returned home, cut the flowers away from the string, and placed the flowers in a sealable container. I also left a few leis whole for my little ones to play dress up. Since this can be understandably messy, we only bring out the activity as our day allows, which also keeps the activity "fresh" and "special" instead of becoming another toy that sits on the shelf or a source of frustration.

 So, here are the steps again:

1. Go to the store and buy leis.  I bought these at Dollar Tree.

2. Cut up the leis.

3. Place the leis in a sealable container.

4. Play.

The kiddos enjoy making flower showers, "planting" flowers, sorting flowers, playing restaurant (making salads and cleaning up), playing garbage collector, dance class, and whatever else there little minds cook up. This activity can be used for teaching sorting, counting, colors, and how flowers/plants grow to name a few.

Note that the silk flowers will leave little threads in their wake, so be prepared to vacuum sometimes.