Tag Archives: flower

Watch Love Grow on Mother’s Day

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Every week we feature a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom. The U.S. wears a mask of western wealth, but hunger and poverty are still a reality for many communities in the Arkansas Delta and Appalachia. Heifer International is making a difference in our own backyard with the Seeds of Change project.

On Mother’s Day, you can make a difference too. Heifer’s Gift Catalog offers ideas that will impact mothers worldwide and create positive, lasting change. And to present your mom with this alternative gift, make a Mother’s Day card that will let her watch love grow.

Flower Pot Card
Photo credit: karewares.blogspot.com

How to make a growing flower pot card.

What you need:

Follow these steps:

  1. Cut out the flower pot from the printable template.
  2. Once your seed paper is ready, cut out four flowers that are one inch smaller than the width of the flower pot.
  3. Write a message on the first three flowers like “I love you,” or “World’s Best Mom.” (One word on each flower.)
  4. Glue the photo to the fourth flower.
  5. Cut out grass to place at the top of the flower pot, or use the grass template.
  6. Cut a piece of yarn long enough to place all four flowers on its length.
  7. In order of your message, glue (tape or staple) the flowers to the yarn; leaving a small tab at the top to pull the flowers out of the pot when finished.
  8. Glue the bottom of the yarn to the inside bottom of the flower pot.
  9. Glue the flower pot template together, let dry.
  10. Write “Happy Mother’s Day” on the front of the flower pot.

Once you are done, insert the flowers and yarn into the flower pot. When you pull on the yarn tab, the flowers will come out revealing your message and lastly, your photo. Make sure Mom plants her seed paper flowers so she can watch love grow from her Mother’s Day card. Simply place the seed paper flowers into raked ground, cover with about half an inch of soil and keep moist. Germination should take about six to eight weeks.

Learn how Heifer is growing Seeds of Change.

Add Color to Your Carnations

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Once a week we will be featuring a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom.

Most of you who celebrate Easter have taken part in the time-honored, yet messy, tradition of dyeing Easter eggs. Try a new twist this year, and dye some carnations to brighten someone’s day and learn a little in the process about how a plant absorbs water and where it goes.

For this activity, you’ll need:

  • 6 white carnationsYour carnation will turn the color of the dye after a short time.
  • 6 plastic cups
  • Food coloring (red, blue, and green work well)
  • A knife
  • Water

Directions

  • Fill each cup half full with water.
  • Add about 20-30 drops of food coloring to each cup of water. In this case, more food coloring is better!
  • Before placing any of the flowers in the colored water, trim the stem of each flower at an angle to create a fresh cut.
  • Place one freshly cut white carnation in each of the cups of colored water. Make some predictions: Which color will be soaked up first? How long will it take?
  • You’ll want to check back every few hours to see how things are progressing. It may take as much as 24 hours for the colored water to work its way up to the white petals.
  • At the conclusion of your experiment, remember to examine the whole plant carefully, including the stems, leaves, buds and petals, to find every trace of color.

If you want to go natural (which we at Heifer International strongly encourage), try these websites for tips on how to make dyes with food products:

How does it work?
Most plants “drink” water from the ground through their roots. The water travels up the stem of the plant into the leaves and flowers, where it makes food. When a flower is cut, it no longer has its roots, but the stem of the flower still drinks up the water and provides it to the leaves and flowers.

If the water a plant uses to grow was polluted, would that affect the plant? In what ways?

You can find this activity (courtesy of Steve Spangler Science) and others in the Classroom Resources section of Heifer International’s website.

Don’t forget to let us know how it works for you in the comments.