Mini Monets and Mommies: Pipe Cleaner Art Activity: Flower Sculptures

Pipe cleaner art activities have been on the agenda lately. There have been pipe cleaner flowers and gift baskets made with the bendy craft material. We’re going back to the flower art, but with a twist this time -- making a soft sculpture.

A few weeks ago a bought a mega-stock of thick craft sticks. I usually reuse popsicle sticks, but being that it’s only spring – I haven’t been buying summer-time treats. So, instead of a random few leftover sticks, I now have a giant bag of them. What to do? Last week the craft sticks became caterpillars (which then became butterflies!). This week I’m going back to the flower idea.

This is an easy kids’ art activity that has almost no mess (unless the cat gets ahold of the pipe cleaner pack – then you’re in trouble). It also works out your child’s fine motor skills in a relatively stress free way. The looping and twisting motions require eye-hand coordination, but aren’t so intricate that your child will easily frustrate. You can also do this craft almost anywhere. Pack up the materials in a bag and take them off to the park for some outdoor art-making or bring them on a trip away from home (grandma will probably appreciate the less-mess pipe cleaners over finger paints and glitter).

And now on to the art...

Here’s What You’ll Need:

· Pipe cleaners

· Craft sticks

Here’s What to Do:

1. Wrap a green pipe cleaner around the craft stick, starting at the bottom. Your child will likely need several of them to cover the stick completely.