Bursting Blooms

Learn about flower structures and their functions then create original pencil drawings that burst with blooming colors!

• 1.

  Study pictures and specimens of flowers. Label their four basic parts (sepals, petals, carpels/pistils, stamens). Compare the shape, size, and location of these parts with your classmates' flowers. Find out how each part contributes to the plant's life.

• 2.

  Create Bursting Blooms with Crayola® Colored Pencils. How can you show flower petals that have several values of one color? Press hard with colored pencils to darken a flower part. Press lightly for the illusion of a tint. Use the points and sides of the colored pencil for different line effects. Overlap layers to make new colors. Use short or long strokes to create texture.

• 3.

  Draw other flower parts, such as stems and leaves. Fill in the background of your drawing with color. How does color makes an impact, especially when there is a background of another vibrant color?

Benefits

• Children locate and compare major flower structures and their functions.
• Children observe and group flowers according to likenesses and differences.
• Children create unique artwork to demonstrate their understanding of major flowering plant structures.

Adaptations

• Raise flowers in the classroom. Take a flower walk to find common local blooms. Identify flower parts with their scientific names. Make sketches for reference. Take walks at various times of the year. Ask florists for discarded blooms. See Spring Springs.
• Challenge older children to use more advanced terminology while discussing flower parts. Hold individual conferences to discuss the artwork and assess the child's understanding of flower parts and their functions.
• Older children work in small groups to research different flowers, share findings with each other, then incorporate each other's flowers into their Bursting Blooms.