Daisy Chains

One of the things I like about the parks and lawns in Seattle is that many of them are great sweeps of grass that include clumps or stretches of these tiny, white English Daisies.

A green lawn covered with tiny white flowers is very pretty! But even better is that these pretty little daisies are the stuff of dozens of daisy chains every spring and summer for our family. Picking the flowers encourages further blooming for the plants, so the kids are not damaging anything. And using 10 or 20 blossoms does not affect the landscape in the least. Everywhere we go, daisy chains tend to happen.

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An added advantage to making daisy chains is that it is a calming and centering activity. It requires sit-down time and a certain amount of focus. And if the kids are working on some chains together, the quiet chit-chat, while their hands are busy, is such a sweet sound.

For Clara, I remember very well the day that these photos were taken. She was about 13 years old and was having a REALLY hard time emotionally in a group activity at their drama troupe that day. Without prompting from me, she separated herself to calm down. “Just walk away” was a skill we’d been working on since the day she came to me (one that I work on with all the kids). It gave her that extra second or a minute or 5 minutes to recalibrate her brain and emotional state.

On this day, she wandered down to the lawn and picnic area. Time and a daisy chain helped her to be able to re-enter the group activities a little bit later with less activation. The rest of the day was successful and productive.

I loved Clara’s smile of success as I pointed out the skill she had just used successfully, and the heart that she made for me with her daisy chain and cherry blossom petals was pretty cool. It’s these tiny moments that make foster care (and parenting in general) such a joy.

If anyone wants to come make daisy chains with us or if you need directions on how to make daisy chains, hit us up. We are experts!

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