Create Beautiful Flowers from tissues

Do you remember making flowers from tissues? Here are the step by step directions for making these easy flowers, with some ideas for decorating them to match any theme colors. If you aren't sure what colors to pick, check out the meanings of flowers for some ideas.

paper flower bouquet

Science Fun with Janice on
Absorption and Capillary Action.

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Making Flowers

Materials

facial tissue
thread
scissors

Instructions:

Pick one tissue and fold it back and forth. It should be like a paper fan or and accordion fold.
For smaller flowers, cut the folded tissue into two pieces each about 4 inches long. Put the two pieces on top of each other.
Use a piece of thread and tie it tightly in the middle.
Separate the layers of the tissue and fluff it into a flower shape.

Ideas and Hints

If you only have single ply facial tissue, stack two or three tissues on top of each other before starting step one.
Use colored tissue to make colorful flowers.
Use water color paint to create the coloring shown in the pictures. The coloring should be very watery to get the blending shown in the picture by the instructions. Use a paint brush to dab the paint on the edge of the tissue and let the water absorb to spread the color along the petals.
Use thicker paint to get the more defined colors shown in the picture below. Use a paint and dab the paint where you want it.
If you don't have watercolor paint, try food coloring. Be careful as it could stain counters or work surfaces.
Use glitter glue to add some sparkle to the flowers.

paper flower made with thicker paint

You can find an easy to print version of this craft and lots of other ideas in the Gifts Kids Can Make ebook from Creative Kids at Home.

Science Fun with Janice

Absorption is the process by which one substance takes in another, such as a sponge soaking up water. Demonstrate absorption by using the following steps to make colorful Easter flowers.

Fold a facial tissue back and forth like a paper fan or an accordion.
Tie a string around the center of the folded tissue.
Hold the ends of the folded tissue together. Then, dip the ends of the tissue in a solution of colored water. (Prepare the colored solution by adding drops of food coloring to Ľ cup of water.)
Use different colors of water for a bouquet of flowers.
When the paper dries, spread them out so they look like the flowers in the picture.

Results:
The colored water moves through the paper for a short distance.

Why?
The colored water spreads through the paper due to CAPILLARY ACTION. Notice that the water spreads farther than does the coloring. This is due to the coloring having more attraction to the paper than does the water. The weight of the coloring also has some affect on how far it travels.

Something More to Try

You can make a multicolored flower like the one shown. To do this you need a white carnation with a long stem. Prepare the flower as follows:

1. If necessary, use scissors to cut the stem so that the flower will stand in glass.

2. ADULT STEP: Lay the flower on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, cut the stem in half from the bottom up to a point just above the height of the glass. You want the half of the stem to stand in one glass and the other half in a second glass. Note: Experiment with the best stem length as well as the height of the glasses.

3. Add food coloring to the water in the glasses. The darker the color the more colorful your flower will be.

What’s Happening?

The colored water is moving up the flower's stem and into the flower through tiny tube-like structures called xylem.

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