Sunflowers are not just beautiful and mind-boosting— they are also one of the easiest flowers to manage, thus making them a staple in preschool gardening. And while it’s nice to grow your own or buy some from the boutique, handmade sunflower crafts are just as special and rewarding as the real ones.
Here we pick out some of the most stunning sunflower crafts to do with your little ones whether it’s for summer or fall crafting, letter S activities, or introduction to gardening!
Easy and Pretty Sunflower Crafts for Preschoolers
There are so many creative ways to make sunflower crafts but not all are suitable for preschoolers. So to help you narrow down your options, we listed some of the best sunflower crafts that are simple enough (but equally mesmerizing) for young kids to be involved in and bloom their fine motor skills, creativity, and more!
There is no reason for you not to try this very easy and frugal paper plate sunflower craft! Because first– everything you need most likely you already have at home (in your craft storage and in the kitchen), and second– it helps kids increase their fine motor skills not only through basic cutting and painting tasks but through sensory fun as well.
For this engaging sunflower craft, you will need:
- Paper plate
- Paint (shades of yellow and brown)
- Corn kernels
- Coffee beans
- Scissors
- Glue
As kids paint the outer rim of their paper plate, let them experiment and have fun with blending shades of yellow to add some illusion of depth and dimension to a simple craft. Once satisfied, move on to painting the center brown. Now for the sensory element, glue real corn kernels and coffee beans all over the center and let everything dry. When ready, cut notches around the rim to make the outer petals. Easy breezy!
If you think collecting corn kernels is not much worth the time and effort, HappyHooligans has this really brilliant tip about saving these grains for bins and future sensory play. Head over to their site for more ideas!
One big circle plus 17 small circles equals one pretty paper sunflower perfect to be given away for Mother’s Day or any special occasion! This folded paper sunflower is easy enough for preschoolers to follow, provided that they have obtained adequate scissors control to cut circles. Otherwise, preparing the circle cutouts in advance should make the process a lot easier and fun.
Start by preparing at least 16 two-inch circles cut out of yellow construction paper. These will serve as your sunflower petals. You might need less or more depending on how you fold them. For the center, trace the paper cup onto the same construction paper and cut it out. Then on green construction paper, cut out a strip for the stem and another two-inch circle for the leaf.
Glue on the stem and the larger yellow circle onto your blue cardstock. Now you can begin folding each paper circle! Simply fold two sides inward making a smaller point on one end and a rounded end on the other. Once all done, glue the yellow folded circles around the center of your sunflower, while the green one goes onto the stem. Finish it off by covering the center with a handful of scrunched-up black tissue paper.
Sounds simple yet fun, isn’t it? To recreate this craft, gather the following materials:
- Light blue cardstock
- Construction paper (yellow and green)
- Black tissue
- 2-inch round object or paper cutout (for tracing)
- Paper cup (for tracing)
- Glue stick
Don’t forget to visit iHeartCraftyThings for more flower craft ideas for preschool.
What could be more fun in the fall than doing nature-based crafts? From preparation to assembly, this amazing leaf sunflower craft provides opportunities for children to foster motor skills and environmental awareness at the same time.
As you go on a walk with your little one to pick up leaves that will make your sunflower petals, you can use this time to talk about the life cycle of a sunflower, the changing seasons, or even bugs if you see some scurrying around.
Once you have a handful of pointy leaves, the next steps are as simple as gluing them around a circle cut out from your brown construction paper. Don’t forget to secure your layers of leaves by sticking another brown circle on the back side and finally, attaching a green paper drinking straw to hold the flower.
If this is something you and your child would enjoy doing, take note of this list of materials you will need:
- Yellow leaves (or any other color, just paint it yellow)
- Brown construction paper
- Paper drinking straw (green)
- Glue
- Scissors
- Duct tape
For a complete step-by-step guide, be sure to check out EasyPeasyAndFun!
The idea of painting with something other than brushes can certainly ignite kids’ creativity. The clever minds at DIYThought have come up with this fantastic sunflower field craft painted using a fork that will invite kids to sit down and let their creative juice flow all while strengthening their little hand muscles.
For this activity, you will only need these materials:
- Paper or cardstock
- Plastic forks or other forks that you are fine with using only for painting
- Acrylic or poster style paint (yellow, brown, green, and other colors you like)
- Palette to put paint on
- Paintbrush
- Round foam paintbrush (or something similar)
In setting up your painting area, remember to use some old newspaper or something to protect the surface from paint splatter as painting is fun but can be really messy! You may also want to try giving kids a variety of colors and shades of yellow so they are freer to be inventive and playful.
Start working on the sunflower petals first by pressing the painted fork down onto the paper multiple times until a circle has been formed. Your flowers can vary in size and detail simply by adding more strokes. Once done with the petals, dip your round foam brush in brown paint, press it down onto the center of each petal, and twist it around to form a nice-looking inner flower. And to complete your field of sunflowers, grab the brush and paint on the green stems.
This fork painted field of sunflowers makes a wonderful house or classroom display, or a gift for special family occasions.
There is no way kids would scrunch up their noses and whine about crafting with a sunflower project as gorgeous as this! Despite its expensive look, rest assured you will only need a few basic supplies beyond tissue paper. Plus, the creators at KidsActivitiesBlog offer a printable sunflower template to make everything much easier for you and your little crafter.
For this, you will need:
- Cardstock
- Tissue paper or crepe paper (yellow, black, brown, blue, and green)
- Glue stick
- Scissors (optional)
- Pencil (if you prefer freehand drawing than printing out template)
The process is so simple that you can hand over the task to kids once you have given them the printed or hand-drawn sunflower. They simply have to cut small pieces of tissue paper (all colors) or, to make it even easier and safer, they can just tear them up— no exact size, and doesn’t really have to be straight! Next is to scrunch them into a ball and from there, they can begin gluing them onto the sunflower, working from the inside to the outside parts.
That’s it— just cut or tear, scrunch, and glue, then you get a sunflower masterpiece to brighten up the house or classroom!
If you’re feeling super crafty and want something that stands out, this egg carton sunflower literally pops off the page! Engaging preschoolers in upcycled crafts is a fantastic way to teach them by example to repurpose everyday items and help with reducing garbage.
To get started, you will need the following materials:
- Egg carton
- Scissors
- Yellow paint
- Paintbrush
- Brown tissue paper
- Glue
- Green construction paper
- White art paper
Begin by cutting off one section of the egg carton for each sunflower you’d like to make. Round the edges and create outer petals by cutting notches towards the center. Carefully press the petals down to slightly open up your flower and then paint it yellow. For the tiny blooms or the center, scrunch up and glue small squares of brown tissue paper. While waiting for everything to dry, cut out the stems and leaves from your green construction paper and glue them onto the white paper. Finish it off by adding the egg carton flower once it’s all dry and ready!
Over at BuggyAndBuddy, they have precise instructions to help you in the process, so visit them if you need to!
A handful of fancy rotini pasta makes a fancy sunflower craft! Do not worry about wasting some rotini in the process as this craft provides a tremendous opportunity for building various skills such as fine motor, creativity, and tactile discrimination. Not to mention, it’s fun and the outcome is just so perfect for decorating a room or gifting to family and friends.
Have we mentioned that this requires a few materials, too? That’s right! Here’s everything that you’ll need to prepare:
- Rotini pasta
- Yellow and brown paint
- Green pipe cleaners
- Glue
Start by having kids paint the pasta yellow. Make sure they do it on a paper plate or any items protecting the area from paint mess. While waiting for those to dry, have kids use their fingers to paint a brown circle for the center of the sunflower. When all is dry and ready, glue on the pasta petals, add some green pipe cleaners for the stem and leaf, and done!
Check out CraftyMorning for more preschool craft inspiration. They never run out of awesome ideas!
If your little one is not ready to graduate yet from Popsicle stick crafts, then this quick and simple sunflower craft suits you! Aside from being easy to put together, this stick sunflower craft saves you time and bucks as everything you will need we bet you already have on hand.
To get started, gather the following materials:
- Craft sticks
- Yellow paint
- Cardstock or heavy paper (orange, green, black or brown)
- Wavy shears
- Scissors
- Glue
The first step is to lay out your craft sticks, forming the ray of petals in the middle of an orange paper. You can either paint the sticks yellow before or after gluing them into place. If choose after, don’t worry much about the paint getting off the sticks because as its creator over at OurKidThings said, it’s part of the fun and practice!
Next, using your wavy shears, cut out a circle from the black (or brown) cardstock big enough to cover the circle of glue that holds all your stick petals. Then cut out a green stem and a leaf with regular scissors, glue them in place and just wait for everything to dry completely.
Turn a simple coffee filter into a stunning sunflower suncatcher craft kids will certainly love and enjoy creating! Since nothing complicated goes into this project (no scissors even!), preschoolers can totally do it themselves with adults only giving instructions. That said, you can make it as a group or whole class activity and use the kids’ output to decorate the room for summer and fall.
For this, you will need:
- Coffee filters
- Markers (orange, brown, and yellow)
- Eye dropper
- Water
- Food coloring
- Sunflower seeds
Have kids start with flattening out the coffee filters and draw on patterns resembling a sunflower using their orange, brown and yellow markers. Once they’re happy with their design, drop a good amount of water tinted with a small amount of yellow food coloring. The more water you add, the more the marker colors will start to run and blend. You can also glue together two or more coffee filters for a more 3D effect. And for an added sensory experience, finish it off by gluing some real sunflower seeds onto the center.
This bright sunflower suncatcher makes a wonderful addition to your fall decorations or really, any time of year! For tips and tricks, head over to FantasticFunAndLearning!
If kids love salt dough recipes, and parents love keepsakes, therefore this salt dough sunflower handprint keepsake will absolutely be a hit for every crafty family! Perfect on a nice summer or fall day, this awesome craft just takes an hour to make (if you pop them in the oven) but provides you years of memories.
Start with preparing the following materials you’ll need:
- Salt dough
- Acrylic paint (yellow and any other color you like)
- Paintbrush
- Varnish
- Sunflower seeds
A batch of salt dough should make at least two of this craft, depending on how big your kids’ hands are. Roll out your dough until it’s around 1 cm thick—not too thick as it will take a long time to dry out and definitely not too thin as it will crumble! Then press down handprints, slightly overlapping on the palm area, to create sunflower petals. Now, you can either air dry or bake them in the oven on low gas.
Once completely dried out, paint the flower yellow and its surrounding with any color you like. Make sure you seal your painted dough using varnish to keep it from going moldy. Add some sunflower seeds to the center, and you’re done!
You can simply display this craft, store it in your keepsake box, or even use it as a bird feeder. Check out LearningAndExploringThroughPlay for ideas!
Don’t we all just love frugal crafts? This giant sunflower craft from InnerChild, despite its size, won’t actually break your bank as it is made from an oatmeal canister! Working on this project is a fun way to show your kids how most of the items around the house can be reused and saved from filling up the trash. Not to mention, the fine motor benefits kids gain in the process.
For this, you will need the following materials:
- Empty oatmeal canister
- Paint (yellow and orange)
- Brown tissue paper
- Broomstick
Begin by removing the lid and the wrap-around label of your empty canister. Divide your canister into two by drawing a strip around the middle at least 1 or 2 inches wide, enough to fit the diameter of your broomstick. Then to create petals, draw vertical strips on both halves, cut out, and fold them back. Paint the first ray of petals yellow, and the other one orange, Once dry, fill in the center with scrunched-up brown tissue paper, and lastly, poke your broomstick in between the two rays of petals for the stem.
This giant sunflower craft is perfect for decorating your kids’ room in summer or fall, or all year round if they’re obsessed with sunflowers!
Conclusion
More than having an awesome summer or fall decoration as an end reward, working on these sunflower crafts is a fun way to support your preschooler’s developmental progress. It helps them a lot with fine motor skills and creativity, as well as creates opportunities to introduce them to many units of study such as life sciences, seasons, weather, and even letter S letter of the week curriculum.
We have included a variety of sunflower crafts to make sure there’s something that suits you. There’s a paper plate sunflower, craft stick sunflower, oatmeal canister, and more. We’d love to know your favorite!
More crafts and activities for you and your preschooler:
