More Than Morimono- Vegetables and Ikebana for Children

The theme for my most recent zoom International Teacher’s Class, with my teacher Ilse Beunen, was “fruit and vegetables in an arrangement”. For class we had to consider fruit and vegetables as material for ikebana, the same way we would flowers or branches. More than just Morimono (stacking fruit and vegetables), the lesson required us to look beyond the use of fruit and vegetables as food items. Carefully examining colour, shape and textures, we were able to view everyday food items in a whole new light.

After my ikebana class had finished, my daughters were delighted to discover that there were plenty of vegetables and flowers left over for them to make arrangements.

Adding water to the glass vase.

Isabel was eager to be the first to use a new purple glass vase and chose some long, thin eggplants to match.

Using long thin eggplants as ikebana material, and intertwining Umbrella Fern.

She then added some bright green Umbrella Fern for a pop of colour. We both thought that the fern was too flat for the arrangement, so I suggested intertwining opposite fronds together to create more depth and movement.

Adding a second eggplant.

Once she was happy with the shape that she had created, she chose a flower. Like me, she found the colour of the Calla Lily hard to resist and added one at the front of the arrangement to hide any stems that were visible in the glass vase.

Adding a Calla Lily at the front of the arrangement to hide any visible stems.