Edelweiss Flower Craft

I'm so excited! Today we're (virtually) traveling to Switzerland as part of an Around The World In 30 Days series that will give you tons of ideas for simple lessons and activities that you can use to teach your children about geography and culture. It is SO important for our children to learn about other places, even at a young age. We choose to make this adorable Edelweiss Flower Craft.

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We started by talking about the country of Switzerland. Lena recently listened to Heidi by Johanna Spyri as an audiobook during her quiet time. She listened to it over and over again for several weeks, so she was really into Heidi things-- pretend play as a little maiden goat herder girl in the mountains and all that. I explained that Heidi was set in Switzerland, so we found it on the map.

Then I told her that the mountains Heidi roams in are the Alps, which we were able to feel on our globe. Awesome. Next, we talked about the edelweiss flowers that grow in the higher elevations. I showed her some pictures on the computer, and of course we listened to the "Edelweiss" song (even though they're Austrian) from The Sound of Music on YouTube.

Then it was time to get crafting.

All you need is construction paper, scissors, and glue. Start by cutting your flower pieces. If your child is older, they could cut the petals, stem, and flower center out themselves. I decided to cut all the flower parts and let my girls cut the mountain background and glue all the pieces on. You can obviously decide what parts of this project you'd like to let your child do on their own.

Edelweiss Flower Craft for Switzerland, Austria, Heidi, or Sound of Music

You need a stem, 5 large petals, 5 small petals, one large yellow circle and 5 smaller circles for the center. I made small stacks to cut all the pieces of one shape at the same time. You'll also need a sheet of dark blue construction paper for the background, and a sheet of light blue construction paper for the mountains.

Cut a jagged mountain shape from your light blue paper and and glue it to the dark blue. Add a stem.

Next, add a ring of 5 large white petals.

The 5 smaller petals go in between.

Next add the large center circle and the 5 smaller center circles. Done!

Here is a completed almost-5-year-old version.

And a completed 3-year-old version. Not bad, right?!

This post is part of a series called Around the World In 30 Days where you can find learning activities for toddlers and preschoolers from 30 different countries around the globe. Where would you like to go next?