Beating the Winter Blues in Your Childcare Space with Flowers
Winter can feel long and dull, especially when the cold keeps us indoors. While our childcare space is filled with green plants, sometimes we need flowers to brighten the environment.
A Simple, Affordable Way to Bring Flowers Indoors
One day I was feeling blah and needed some flowers. We are gardeners and many times our school is filled with cut flowers from the garden. Winter in Chicago robs us of that privilege. So while grocery shopping, I saw colorful flowers on sale for $7.99 – I was not going to miss that opportunity. I picked up a dozen white roses which does not represent sympathy in my world.
flowers at the supermarket for $7.99
The next day, I set up a simple flower invitation for my toddlers. They carefully placed each stem in small vases, adjusting, rearranging the flowers with curiosity and creativity.
toddlers helping to arrange flower bouquet
This activity helped develop their hand-eye coordination and gave them a calming, creative experience while adding beauty to our childcare space.
finished white rose arrangement
The best part? The bouquet lasted for weeks, and the children found different ways to use it in their play—which I’ll share in a future blog post.
How to Try This in Your Childcare Space or at Home
- Pick up an inexpensive bouquet and provide small vases or jars.
- Let children explore the scent, texture, and shapes of the flowers.
- Guide the children in trimming stems and arranging flowers in water (depending on the flowers). Roses have thorns so I trimmed and cut the stems of these.
- Once the flowers start wilting, remove the water and hang them upside down to dry for future projects.
flowers cut to size that made it manageable for the toddlers
A simple bouquet can brighten your childcare space, spark creativity, and provide ongoing learning opportunities.
See some of our recent posts –
How to grow apple tree from seeds
Dollar store pegboard creates learning for my toddlers
Until next time, I am Miss Sue your fellow educator in the trenches with you.
