If there is one thing that always brings a smile to the face of my children, it is a trip to one of our favourite local attractions, Glenbernie Farm.  With acres of Sunflowers greeting visitors with their happy yellow faces, it is impossible not to feel joyful and inspired after a visit.

We have created this activity so you can brighten up your day with a sunflower of your own... no matter the weather!

You will need

4-5 sheets of A4 paper

Oil Pastels or Crayons

Green Coloured paper

Watercolour paint & paint brush (optional)

Scissors

Glue

Pencil 

Part 1

1. Grab your pencil and draw the outline of your sunflower. Start with the stem and add a semi-circle on top (this is the sunflower face) then add leaves. There is no need to draw the flower petals now.  We’re going to create those later.

2. Colour the semi-circle part of the sunflower (we can call this the face of your sunflower) using a brown oil pastel or crayon. Add little seeds onto the face with a black oil pastel.

3. Select a colour from your paint set to begin painting the background of your artwork on a sheet of A4 paper. You might consider a blue sky or a combination of pinks and oranges to form a sunset.

4. Paint the page around your outline with your chosen colour using up and down brushstrokes. More water and less paint works well here to create a subtle background. If you are using more than one colour, let the colours bleed into one another.

5. Leave your artwork to dry in a safe location.

Part 2

During this stage, you will start to see your sunflower come to life by drawing the outline and creating a collage by layering green paper on the stem.

1. Using green paper, cut out small squares or tear small sections place in a small pile. You might like to cut identically sized squares or you might like to create messy varied size torn pieces. Your creativity will create your own unique artwork.

2. Begin sticking down pieces of paper inside and along the outline of the stem and the leaves to create a collage.

3. Set aside to dry.

Part 3

Everything is coming together and it is looking spectacular! Now let’s complete your sunflower masterpiece.

1. Select a yellow oil pastel to draw a basic petal shape on a spare sheet of paper. Aim for the petals to be about 10cm in length and draw 8-10 petals in total.

2. Once you are happy with the shape you can begin colouring your petals. Feel free to add details using a lighter or darker shade of yellow oil pastel or even an orange or brown pastel.

3. Cut out your beautiful petals using scissors.

4. Glue the petals onto the face of your sunflower.

Your sunflower is now complete.  Great work artists, you should be very proud of all the work you put into creating such a masterpiece!

For a special trick on how to really make your artwork pop with 3D petals watch the video below.