April 10, 2020
1 | Printable Coloring Sheets, Puzzles, and Games
The artists behind Dixie Design Collective help us add the finishing touch to our everyday lives with their whimsical paper goods. Now they are offering inspired ways to keep young minds engaged, too, with blog posts filled with free printable activities, from stationery for writing notes to neighbors to scavenger hunts, word searches, coloring sheets, a Go Fish card game set, and more.
“With almost half our team comprised of moms with kids who will now be home for the upcoming weeks (due to the coronavirus), we chatted at length about creative ways we could offer a few tools to help get through the long days.” — Dixie Design Collective
How to access printable children’s activities
Visit dixie-design.com and click on the Blog tab. The first post dedicated to children’s activities appears on March 17, 2020, and the series is ongoing. Free
See more from Dixie Design Collective in Flower magazine’s articles “Christmas Gifts Too Pretty to Open” and “Blue-and-White Is Always Right.”
2 | The Pocket Book of Backyard Experiments
Mother Nature is a great teacher. Children can explore her lessons waiting in the garden with The Pocket Book of Backyard Experiments by Dr. Helen Pilcher (Universe Publishing, 2020). The eighty experiments use playtime to teach basic botany, soil science, biology, chemistry, and more. For instance, did you know you can explore the Japanese art of Hapa Zome at home by beating leaves and flowers with a hammer to create natural fabric prints? (See image below.)
Authored by a cell biologist and well-known science writer, Pilcher, and charmingly illustrated by Sarah Skeate, this book will help children find their inner researcher and gain a deeper appreciation for the natural world.
3 | Floral Design Classes for Children
“We believe it’s important to instill a love and respect for flowers while teaching creative floral principles to the next generation—especially during this unique time in history where we have their attention.” — Team Flower
Flower magazine first introduced you to floral designer Kelly Perry of Philosophy Flowers in our May-June 2016 issue. Kelly and her husband, Jesse, also run Team Flower, an online community of flower lovers and floral learning resources. On March 22, 2020, Team Flower announced it will soon release a free floral design curriculum for kids, available to teachers and parents.
How to access this children’s activity
Visit teamflower.org/free4nextgen and fill out the application. Free
For more from Kelly, see the step-by-step floral tutorial she created for Flower magazine.
4 | Children’s Embroidery Series
Mariana Barran Goodall knows firsthand the influence learning embroidery at a young age can have on a child. After all, as a young student in Monterrey, Mexico, she learned the skill from the nuns who taught at her school. Now, as founder of Hibiscus Linens, she creates heirloom-quality embroidered pieces at her studio in Houston.
To help her Instagram followers looking for educational activities to do with children while social distancing, she created a series of short video lessons on embroidery called Creative Time with Hibiscus Linens.
For more, follow her on Instagram at @hibiscuslinens and check out her IGTV for stitching tutorials for beginners of all ages.
By Terri Robertson
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