Dandelion Stem Curlicue

When I was a young girl in the spring I used to love making Dandelion stem curlicues.

Have you ever made any? Or, ever heard of making Dandelion Curlicues?

What you need is:

 Some Dandelions and a saucer of plain water.

Cut or tear the flower off of the stem.

Make the stem smaller - a couple of inches long.

Then split both ends into 4 pieces, leaving the center whole which holds the curlicue together.

 You can use fingernails or scissors to split the ends. 

When I was a kid, I used my finger nails - but as an adult I used scissors.

Then put this in the water and watch it curl.

Here is a video of them curling: (Sorry about the sun / water glare and my neighbor hammering something)

This is a really fun experiment to do with your kids.

The result is a cute curlicue. My friends and I made these all spring and summer long.

I have to add this quote to the mix - because it's so true that kids don't play outside as much anymore. We lived outside when I was young.

Besides making curlicues, we floated home made boats down streams, made forts, slept out under the stars, played games, road our bikes, raided gardens. We had so much fun when I was a little girl.