# Textured Paper Collage and Flower Crafts
> Print on paper with a potato masher, scouring pad and sponges dipped in powdered tempera paint. Once the textured prints dry, kids cut them up to make free-form collages or patterned paper flowers on craft-stick stems, inspired by Kevin Henkes' "My Garden".
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/flower-crafts-kids-activities/
- Ages: 2–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: high
- Time: prep 10 min, activity 45 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class
- Skills: fine-motor, scissor-skills, printmaking, creativity, pretend-play
- Cautions: ingestion-risk

## Materials (one batch)
- Powdered tempera paint
- White paper for printing
- 1 piece Potato masher (household)
- 1 piece Scouring pad (household)
- Sponges (household)
- 1 piece Kid scissors (household)
- Glue (household)
- 1 sheet Paper for the collage base
- Craft sticks
- Flower patterns (templates)
- Googly eyes (optional)
- 1 piece Baking tray (optional) (household)
- 1 piece "My Garden" by Kevin Henkes (optional)

## Safety
- Powdered tempera is a fine powder. Handle it gently so kids don't breathe in the dust, and wash hands after painting.
- Supervise scissor use closely, especially with toddlers and preschoolers.
- Googly eyes and small paper scraps are choking hazards for toddlers. Supervise closely and keep them away from kids who still mouth things.
- The flower craft was beyond the author's 2-year-old's skill level. With toddlers, run it as a mom-and-tot activity.

## Before you start
- Gather printing tools: potato masher, scouring pad and sponges.
- Have flower patterns and craft sticks ready if you plan to make flowers.
- Plan two sessions: printing on day one, then cutting and gluing the next day once the paint is fully dry.

## Steps
1. Print on white paper with a potato masher, scouring pad and sponges, using powdered tempera paint.
2. Let the prints dry completely. The powdered paint dries into a textured effect.
3. The next day, cut the textured paper into pieces. Try cutting circles and flower shapes, or just cut freely.
4. Play pretend with any quirky shapes that turn up.
5. Gather all the cut pieces on a tray.
6. For a collage, glue the pieces onto a sheet of paper to make any scene you like. Add googly eyes if you want.
7. For flowers, cut flower shapes using the patterns, glue on a textured circle for the middle, and glue each flower to a craft-stick stem.
8. Show off your finished flowers or use them in a garden sensory bin.

## Tips
- The prints the kids made using the potato masher gave the most wonderful textured effect.
- Cutting the textured paper is a great way to practice preschooler scissor skills. Mine loves trying to get a circle just right.
- Some shapes cut without any pattern in mind turned out fun and quirky. My toddler pretended one was a dragon, and a giggling session followed.
- We planned on flowers, but my 4 year old wanted a collage instead. That's the whole idea of hands-on projects: to kick off imagination and creativity.
- The flower craft was beyond my 2 year old's skill level, so it became a mom-and-tot activity. I'd think it would suit preschool age and above.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

### Flower craft doubling as great fine motor activity.

So many fun kids projects were created once we started thinking about a sensory bin for Kevin Henkes' " My Garden" We needed patterned flowers and jelly bean bush. See how we made our **[spring craft - jellybean bush](https://www.funlittles.com/spring-crafts-fine-motor-activity-jellybean-bush-inspired-by-my-garden-by-kevin-henkes/)** here. For our patterned flowers we started with an open ended art project. More on that later. Here is our finished line up. We used household objects like potato masher, scouring pad and sponges to print. To get a textured effect we used **powdered tempera paint**. [](https://www.funlittles.com/?attachment_id=7389) Once the powdered paint dried, it did give us a wonderful textured effect, especially the prints the kids made using the potato masher. The following day my 4 year old and I cut out our textured paper into pieces. This especially was a great way to practice those preschooler scissor skills. I liked the way she tried to cut out a circle- that is something she loves to get it right.

[](https://www.funlittles.com/?attachment_id=7396)

We cut out some shapes with a pattern in mind (flowers for our sensory bin) and most were cut without any pattern in mind . Some turned out to be fun ,quirky ones. My toddler loved to pretend play with the quirky shapes and this one was supposed to be a dragon. A giggling session followed ( oh I love those)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/?attachment_id=7391)

All in all the cutting exercise was an excellent fine motor activity.

[](https://www.funlittles.com/?attachment_id=7392)

We had planned on making patterned flowers and I had my craft sticks and flower patterns ready but my 4 year old clearly had other plans. She said she wanted to do a collage." Of course kid, that's the whole idea of hands on projects- to kick off your imagination and creativity". So yes, she made this wonderful textured collage. This is an underwater scene with an odd , swimming rabbit.

[](https://www.funlittles.com/?attachment_id=7397) Of course her 2 year old sister HAS to make a collage as well. My toddler's textured paper collage.

[](https://www.funlittles.com/?attachment_id=7395)

Surprisingly my toddler was the one who was interested in making a flower craft. Here we are exercising some serious fine motor skills and having a great time with this craft/ fine motor activity. She showed interest in this activity but clearly it was beyond her age/skill level. So it was a mom and tot activity. I'd think this flower craft would be suitable for preschool age and above.



Our patterned flowers inspired by Kevin Henkes' "My Garden". The basic idea is to start off with an open ended art project using powdered paint and end with a fun cutting fine motor activity.

[](https://www.funlittles.com/?attachment_id=7398)

Two other posts we shared based on the book. [](https://www.funlittles.com/spring-crafts-fine-motor-activity-jellybean-bush-inspired-by-my-garden-by-kevin-henkes/) [](https://www.funlittles.com/my-garden-sensory-activities/)

Thanks for reading

### More flower crafts and spring crafts