Colored Carnations

While this may not be exactly a craft, it presents a good opportunity to talk to the kids about how plants “eat and drink.” Purchase a few white carnations. Then you will need to create a dye solution out of one ounce of food coloring, one pint of warm water, and one teaspoon of sugar. Then carefully cut the tip of each carnation stem to make sure the stems are freshly cut and can absorb the water. Now have the kids put the stems in the die solution so that it covers about 3 inches up the stem. The color will start to change in about an hour, but could take as long as 24 hours. When you get the color you want, simply rinse off the stems and use them any way you desire. You can literally move onto another craft project by letting kids arrange the flowers.