Easy and fun to make! Sunflower craft ideas
How about incorporating sunflowers—blooming energetically toward the sun in the hot summer—into your crafts? In this feature, we’ll share creative sunflower project ideas.
You’ll find plenty of ideas, from origami to using everyday materials like paper cups and paper plates, as well as techniques that let kids enjoy interesting textures, such as stamping and finger painting.
By adapting the steps, these projects can be used with children from infants to kindergarteners.
Be sure to include this in your summer childcare activities and have everyone make adorable, energetic sunflowers together! Because we focus on ideas that emphasize children’s free expression in their creations, we use the term “seisaku” (制作, production/creation) rather than “seisaku” (製作, making/manufacturing) in the text.
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Easy and fun to make! Sunflower craft ideas (1–10)
Sunflowers made with torn paper
Let’s tear paper with a fun rip-rip sound and make a cute sunflower! It’s a great way for little kids to enjoy the sensation of tearing paper, so give it a try.
First, draw the center of the sunflower, the stem, and the leaves on construction paper.
Then, use hand-torn origami pieces as the petals and arrange them around the center.
Depending on the child’s age, you can also cut out the center, stem, and leaves from construction paper instead.
Adding drawings around the sunflower will make the piece even more original and full of personality.
Sunflower fan made with handprints
These sunflower fans made with handprints are great for paint play.
The sunflower petals are designed using the children’s handprints! First, stamp the children’s handprints onto construction paper and cut them out with scissors.
Next, make the center of the sunflower, then attach the handprints and a chopstick handle to finish.
Adjust the steps according to the children’s ages.
The sunflower center can be a resist painting or any free drawing—both are great! The handprint stamping step is easy enough for little ones to try, so be sure to include it actively.
Three-dimensional sunflower
We’re introducing a summer-themed craft: making a three-dimensional sunflower.
First, draw guidelines on construction paper or origami paper and cut out the sunflower parts with scissors.
After gluing the parts together to form the sunflower, stand it up by inserting it into a paper cup with slits cut in the rim to finish.
The steps vary by age, but for two-year-olds, they can enjoy drawing patterns for the seeds with a pen and decorating the paper cup with stickers.
Since cutting out the parts and assembling them involves scissors, craft knives, and tape, please have the teacher handle those steps.
Easy and fun to make! Sunflower craft ideas (11–20)
Gorgeous sunflower with accordion folding
How about a gorgeous sunflower made entirely with accordion folds? Its luxurious look is sure to get kids excited! Take yellow origami paper and fold it in an accordion, then fold it in half to make four pieces.
Round off one end into a petal shape, then glue the pieces together and form them into a circle.
Finish by creating the center part with origami paper, and you’re done.
Since the accordion folding is a simple, repetitive step, once you’ve learned it, you can make lots! Give it a try as a summer vacation craft.
Sunflower with bubble wrap stamps
Many children are fascinated by bubble wrap in packaging and love popping it! Let’s use that bubble wrap to make sunflowers.
First, wrap bubble wrap around a piece of cardboard to make a stamp.
Paint the stamp with paint, then dab it onto paper to stamp away! Imagine the bumpy pattern as the center of the sunflower.
Besides sunflowers, you can also pretend it’s fish scales or a honeycomb—encourage kids’ free imagination and have fun exploring different ideas!
Sunflower made of origami
Let’s have fun folding sunflowers—the summer flowers that lift your spirits just by looking at them—using origami! If your child has shown an interest in origami or has folded it before, encourage them to give this a try.
You’ll make the sunflower by creating the petals and the center separately, then combining them at the end.
Adding a stem and leaves will make it look even more like a real sunflower! Tackle each step according to the child’s age and ability.
It could also be fun to make lots of them and aim for a whole sunflower field.
A sunflower field made from toilet paper rolls
Why not make sunflower stamps that bloom with energy even on hot days? First, align the tips of about ten cotton swabs and bundle them with a rubber band.
Next, cut many 5 mm slits down to about one-third of a toilet paper roll, then flare them out.
Apply yellow paint to the flared section and stamp repeatedly on drawing paper, imagining sunflower petals.
Dab brown paint onto the bundled cotton swabs to stamp the seed center, and put green paint on your finger to stamp the leaves.
That’s it! The steps are simple, so even younger children can enjoy this activity.
It’s also fun to try a variety of colors.