Monday, April 27

Dandelion Curls

Did you make these as a kid? Oh, my sister and I did. It was a trick my mom showed us. I remember having many glasses of water on the window sill next to our kitchen table filled with dandelion curls. I even brought some dandelions to my 4th grade class to demonstrate how to make them curl.

As I was extracting the millionth dandelion plant out of our grass this weekend I came across the perfect specimen for curling. You need dandelions with thick, pithy stems.

I knew the girls would love this activity, especially Eva who is very fond of all things curly namely hair.

Once you have the dandelions, pop off the flowers. Then you split the ends, making them look like an octopus. The longer the splits the longer the curls. Stick the frayed end in water and in a matter of minutes the ends will curl.

I don't know what it is about this activity but it's very captivating. The power of transformation, in just minutes no less. Maybe you'll look at dandelions in a whole new way. I'm sure your kids will.

12 comments:

jojoebi-designs said...

ohh we will be collecting dandelions when we go this week!

Did you know that if you put that white creamy stuff in the middle of the stalk on a wart that the wart will disappear? I thought it was one of the crazy ideas the little old lady who worked for us had (like getting a baby to suck on a live toads head to get rid of thrush or rubbing goose liver oil onto a cist to get rid of it) BUT I tried it when I was a teenager on a wart I had on my finger, you need to do it every day for a week or so and it works!

This Girl loves to Talk said...

I have never heard of such a thing... amazing.. i will try

ksjjpalmer said...

We're going to try this one. It seems like a project even I can handle. Thanks

Emily Malate said...

Mom used to tell me to go make these when I complained to her about being bored. Reminds me of fletcher's village!

Juice said...

I've never seen this before - very cool!

StoreyJohnsons in Sud Italia said...

Very cool! This one is new to me. Now, if I could only get my hands on some dandelions . . . there aren't any growing in my 'yard' (read rooftop container garden).

Monkey's Mama said...

love this!

Lisa said...

Nora was amazed by the new trick mommy had to show her today! She sat staring at the cup for a good 20 minutes. Thanks for the time filler, I see many of these in our future!

GGAdventures said...

Very cool! We will be trying this! Thanks.

Road Trippers said...

Seriously! I can't wait to try this at home! I know dandelions grow as tall as the grass - short grass = short dandelions, long grass = long dandelions. So I guess the idea is to find someone who NEVER mows their lawn,right? Curly, curly, curly!

3XMom said...

awesome!!! Totally going to try this - thanks!!

Playing by the book said...

I love this post and have just linked to it from http://www.playingbythebook.net/2009/11/12/the-overconsumption-of-dandelions/ - now off to read more of your lovely blog!
Zoe

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