October 23, 2026

Paper Plate Flowers

Paper plate daisy, sunflower, and tulip on a craft table

Paper plate flowers are a good next step after a plain collage. The plate is the centre of the flower, and petals are paper the child can tear or place. These projects stay flat, so they can go on a window or a card. They do not repeat the paper blossom spiral from the seasonal crafts guide.

Set up the table

Cut petal strips ahead of time for children under five. Older children can cut their own wide petals. A green strip becomes the stem after the flower is done, so the flower is not waiting on a perfect stem.

Daisy

Ages: 4+. Time: 20 minutes.

You need: paper plate, white paper petals, yellow crayon, glue stick.

  1. Colour the centre of the plate yellow.
  2. Glue petals around the rim, points out.
  3. Leave small gaps so the petals read as separate.
  4. Add a green strip under the plate as a stem.

Eight petals look like a daisy. A full fringe looks like a lion.

Sunflower

Ages: 5+. Time: 25 minutes.

You need: paper plate, yellow strips, brown crayon, glue stick.

  1. Colour the centre brown and press hard.
  2. Glue yellow strips around the edge.
  3. Draw a few seed dots in the brown centre.
  4. Tape the plate to a longer green strip so it stands.

Short strips read as petals. Long strips read as a mane.

Tulip cup

Ages: 6+. Time: 20 minutes.

You need: paper plate, scissors, green strip, glue.

  1. An adult cuts the plate in half.
  2. The child rolls one half into a cone and glues the overlap.
  3. Pinch the point a little.
  4. Glue the cone onto a stem.

One cone is a tulip. Two cones side by side are a bunch.

Pressed blossom

Ages: 4+. Time: 15 minutes.

You need: paper plate, tissue squares, glue stick.

  1. Rub glue in the centre only.
  2. Press tissue squares on the glue.
  3. Leave the rim as a pale edge.
  4. Stop before the tissue covers the whole plate.

Tissue on glue, not glue on tissue, keeps fingers cleaner.

Garden row

Ages: 5+. Time: 30 minutes.

You need: three plates, scrap petals, one long green strip.

  1. Make three simple centres.
  2. Use a different petal colour on each.
  3. Glue them along one stem strip.
  4. Write the colours if they want a label.

A row of three is a picture. More plates get heavy.

Flower card

Ages: 6+. Time: 20 minutes.

You need: a small plate, folded paper, glue, crayon.

  1. Fold the paper into a card.
  2. Glue the plate on the front as the flower centre.
  3. Add four petals that hang off the plate.
  4. Write a name inside.

A small plate fits a card. A dinner plate does not.

What to watch

Rolled cones need a minute of holding. If the child will not wait, use a paper clip until the glue sets, then take the clip off before the card is given away.

The Imagination Hive is a children’s art and STEM studio in Milton, Ontario. These projects use ordinary supplies so you can start at the kitchen table.

Keep making