Ikebana: Flower Arrangement

What You Need:

• Flowers
• Vase
• Scissors

What You Do:

1. Help your child learn more about the art of Ikebana by heading to your local library or doing some research online. Ikebana translates to “flowers kept alive” and there are three main schools, Ikenobo, Sogetsu and Ohara. And, there are two main styles of flower arrangement: moribana or shallow dish, and nageire or tall vase. And within these styles there are patterns to follow for creating arrangements!
2. Invite your child to create a moribana style arrangement by finding a low vase to use from around the house. Your child can create a basic upright arrangement using spring flowers from around the house or that you've purchased at your local flower store.
3. Start by encouraging your child to select one flower or branch as his center stalk. Now he can start building his arrangement around the base flower.
4. Traditionally, the next flowers or branches would be positioned so they lean or move toward the flower arranger’s left shoulder and shorter than the central flower or branch. But, if your child finds his flowers work best moving to the right, he can build in that direction, too!
5. Invite your child to finish his Ikebana flower arrangement by positioning a few additional flowers at the base of the vase pointing in the opposite direction as the last collection of flowers.
6. Now he can find the perfect spot to display his colorful and beautiful Ikebana flower arrangement for everyone to enjoy and appreciate!

Did you know: One of the most important concepts of Ikebana is to always position the flower so its head faces upwards?