Pressing flowers with children is super easy and inspires even kindergarten children! You can also combine the pressing beforehand with a walk and then do something nice with the flowers. It’s also a great activity for children’s birthday parties. Win-win at all levels!
Here I’ll show you how easy it is and what a beautiful gift a personalized flower press is! Birthday, Christmas, school enrollment or as a souvenir – surprise your children by rediscovering nature!
Which flowers are suitable for pressing?
Almost all flowers are suitable for pressing. Especially those Flowers, grasses, or leaves that are evenly flat. The more tender, the easier it is to squeeze. These include in particular:
- violet
- clover
- Geraniums
- lavender
- Grasses
- Gypsophila
- fern
- Rocket
- Cornflowers
- jasmine
- Astilbe
Flowers with a thick stem or a strong inner workings are not so suitable. Roses, for example, are simply too voluminous; here it is better to pluck out the individual leaves and process them into a pattern later.
Three steps to pressing flowers with children
Pick and collect flowers
It’s so easy to convince the children to go hiking: We’ll go collect flowers! While walking, just look down and see what is growing there. This opens the eyes and sharpens the perception of young and old.
Seasonal differences can also be recorded and perceived in this way. Experiencing nature in this way is great fun!
Prepare flowers
When pressed, the flowers are not only pressed together, they are also dried. Pressing removes water from them and makes them durable.
For this reason, there are two layers of blotting paper between the press cardboard, which absorbs the moisture.
Tip: The flowers should be absolutely dry before you put them in the press. Either let them air dry or gently pat dry with your cloth so that no morning dew or rain sticks to them.
Press flowers
The flowers, leaves and grasses are placed on a layer of cardboard with a sheet of blotting paper to be pressed.
Make sure that they have enough space and do not overlap.
Works from the bottom up. When the press is full, the lid is put on and the screws are tightened.
Now we have to wait and see. 10-14 days of patience are required for the flowers to dry out properly. In the case of particularly juicy specimens, it is also advisable to replace the blotting paper after the first two days.
After the drying time, carefully take the plants out and use them for handicrafts or stick them in a herbarium.
What do you do with pressed flowers?
Traditionally (thin tape or spray glue) the pressed flowers are stuck in a herbarium, a booklet in which the plants are archived and labeled so that you can get to know them better. A kind of reference work or catalog with the treasures that have been found and pressed.
A herbarium is therefore an essential part of our flower press. The location, date, plant name and special features of the dried flower are noted.
Handicrafts with pressed flowers
Pressed flowers are ideal for further processing. You can combine them in glass frames and turn them into decoration for the apartment.
Glued to postcards, real works of art are created that will surprise the recipient. They can also be attached to pillar candles with a little skill. It is a great present!
You can find great instructions for candles with pressed flowers at Laura from Try Try Try!
Rebecca von Sinnenrausch pressed violets in the microwave! Crazy, but that seems to work too!
You will quickly notice that pressing flowers is child’s play and even the little ones have fun! Let yourself be carried away by the beauties of nature and just try it out. Have a lot of fun!
