Poinsettia: La Flor de la Nochebuena



If there is one flower that represents Christmas is definetely the poinsettia. Right after Thanksgiving I start my Christmas shopping by buying a few poinsettias. I place them in a basket with a  Christmas bow and enjoy their beauty throughout the holidays and beyond.
When I was in the classroom, I would also have these flowers there, right next to Tommie DePaola's book The Legend of the Poinsettia. After reading this book a popular activity was to make paper poinsettias. Today, I will share with you my favorite way of making them.
  • Copy the pattern in green and red construction paper.
  • Cut the outside circle and the inside lines.
  • Fold  over the ends of each petal and glue them together. Just a little bit of glue will do, but you need to hold them together for a few seconds. You will need to model this step. It may be tricky for some students at first, but once they figure it out it's not hard. I have made these with first and second graders.
  • Once all the leaves have been folded, glue the red ones to the center of the green one.
  • Use yellow glitter for the center of the poinsettia.


These flowers make a beautiful classroom display. To get the pattern click here.