Blooming Paper Flowers Experiment

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Say What? Blooming Paper Flowers?  Yup, these little paper flowers will actually bloom right before your very eyes!   This is such a fun and simple little experiment, but you have got to try it.  It is perfect right now as Spring is starting to creep in. We are using our awesome Boise Paper for this experiment. They provided the paper and sponsored this post, but all thoughts and ideas are my own.

How to Make Blooming Paper Flowers:

All you need is some copy paper ( We used the Boise Polaris Premium Paper – it’s available at Office Depot) and a container of water, but to make it more interesting we always have to add a little color!

Start by cutting out some paper flowers. You can use my printable Flower Template, or just cut your own.

After they were cut, we colored them with markers. We used markers because we wanted to see the colors swirl in the water.

Fold the flower petals into the center. You do not want to fold them tightly, just a loose fold or they will not open as well. Don’t press the creases too tight. You can also add in a little surprise extra paper shape inside the folded flower. See what  I mean in the video below.

Fill a bowl or other large container with a few inches of water. We used a plastic bin so we could do lots at once.

Place the folded flower into the water and the paper will absorb the water causing it to open the petals.  It is pretty amazing to watch. They begin opening one at a time until it is all the way open.  My 5-year-old was thrilled and yelled out “They’re Blooming! How did you do that?”

So, if you want a simple experiment that is kind of like magic to little kids, try this one out!