The Nerdy Fairy's Guide to Spring Magic: Finding Violet for Kids
Target Audience: Little Explorers & Nature Nerds
Difficulty Level: Easy (no wings required)
Goal: Find, identify, and taste the magic of Spring
It is Springtime and plants are joyfully peeking their heads up through the soil everywhere. And there are some happy, lovely child-friendly herbs that commonly grow this time of year. Often referred to as weeds, these plants offer big herbal support plus they are nutritious, and tasty! A favorite little plant just awaking in the world is violet (Viola odorata).
Take a walk with your child and see if you can find violet growing in your neighborhood. To help really get to know violet, when you and your child are meeting her, share the little stories below and consider creating something tasty or crafty with your new plant friend. Plus find a little guide to get you started on safe foraging for violets with kids.
Edible flowers for kids: VIOLETS
Violets are sweet little plants with deliciously fragrant purple flowers and vibrant green heart-shaped leaves. The leaves and flowers make a tasty, magical snack all full of vitamins C and A!
There are so many more benefits of violets beyond nutrition. If you wish, get nerdy and dive into all things violet over on our Violet Materia Medica here!
What Violets Look Like & Where To Find Them
Identifying violets is easy once you know what to look for!
IMPORTANT: SAFETY FIRST! The number one rule, is to never, ever consume a plant unless you know for sure what it is. Please take the following information as a guideline and seek advice on identification from a local herbalist or naturalist. An adult should always help children with this process to ensure safety.
Botanical ID:Viola odorata > Fairy Classification: Ground-dwelling Purple Sprite
Scientific Superpower: Indicators of Spring (they tell us the soil is waking up!)
Status: Delicious & Highly Magical
Habitat:
This is where you will find violets living their best lives. Violets like to grow in moist, shady areas, although they will spread into lawns and gardens as well, especially in the Spring before the sun becomes strong and hot.
Appearance:
Violets are not tall; they grow close to the ground, often in masses, and the little purple flowers hide their budding heads beneath the heart-shaped green leaves.
The flowers have 5 petals: two petals on top, two on the side, and one at the base of the flower with a tiny yellow center. Once in bloom, the flowers peek their heads up above the leaves as if to say hello! The flowers have a distinctive, lovely odor and once you smell it, you will never forget it. In fact, sometimes the best way to find violets is with your nose!
The leaves of violets roll in at the edges when young and, as they grow, become flatter. The leaves are a bit downy and, as mentioned, heart-shaped (the botanical term for this is cordate!).
Stories To Share
This well-cherished flower has many myths and legends surrounding it. Here are a few to enjoy!
In the language of flowers, violets symbolize love, affection, and happiness!
One of our favorite stories comes from the children’s book Mother Earth & Her Children by Sibylle Von Olfers which offers a beautiful vision of plants coming back to life during the flush of Spring. The art work for this enchanting book is stunningly inspired by a quilt that celebrates the seasons. It has a shy little Violet as a character who ventures out with the other flowers when Springtime comes. The shyness of the character speaks to a theme of violets, in that they hide away amongst their leaves until they are ready to really step forth.
Author Victor Appleton’s stories of Uncle Wiggily includes an adventure with some tiny violet friends he finds growing in the woods near his home. The violets wish to be helpful! You can read this one right online here!
Gifts From Violets
The leaves are mucilaginous (slimy) when chewed, offering a healing slipperiness to the body helping to soothe the stomach and ease coughs. Violets are calming and cooling. They help to ease a broken, sad heart.
Nerdy Fairy Tip: In the world of science, we call this 'demulcent' action: it’s like a cooling, liquid hug for your throat!
Violet Flower Recipes
Violet flowers and leaves are tasty and so are easy to add to foods such as salads and soups. Use the fresh flowers to decorate cakes and cookies. We love to put them in fruit salad. You can also freeze the flowers in ice cubes to add a bit of loveliness to your cup. When you freeze flowers in ice cubes, it’s like capturing a moment of Spring in a tiny crystal! Use your imagination and creativity to use the flowers for creating a fairy tea party.
So much fun!
How To Make
Violet Infused Water & Tea
Spend some time together in the violet patch. Pick some flowers and leaves. If you wish, gently wash them.
Make Violet Infused Water:
Use 5 to 10 flowers per quart of water
Place the flowers in a jar and cover with cool water.
Wait at least 30 minutes and then drink your lovely brew!
Make Violet Tea:
Use 2 tablespoons of flowers per cup of water
Place the flowers in a heat-proof vessel
Add boiling hot water
Cover the tea and let it steep for 5 to 10 minutes
Strain and enjoy
Add lemon juice to see a fun color change!
How To Make
Violet Infused Honey
This simple activity is a favorite for kids and adults alike! This tasty treat is great on pancakes, toast, swirled into tea, or just by the spoonful. It lightens the spirit, helps those dealing with a broken heart, and soothes coughs.
Find out more about violet honey here.
Make Violet Honey:
Gather a bunch of violet flowers, really as many as you want or can find.
Place them in a clean, dry jar
Cover them with honey, being sure to get all the flowers submerged.
Wait a day or so and then enjoy eating the honey, flowers and all.
How To Make
Candied Violets
This violet craft offers a chance to slow down and create something beautiful together.
Craft Candied Violets:
Gather violets with stems attached.
Gently wash and let the flowers dry.
Working with one violet at a time, holding by the stem, dip the flower into egg whites (or you can use a clean paintbrush to paint the violet with egg whites). Be sure to cover all parts of the flower.
Next, dip the flower into fine white sugar, once again covering all parts of the flower.
Snip off the stem and place the flower on a wire rack or wax paper. Take a moment to gently open the flower up if it has folded up on itself.
Let the flowers dry for 24 to 48 hours. Or hasten drying by placing in a 200°F oven until the sugar crystallizes.
Store in an airtight container and use to decorate cakes, cookies, and puddings. So pretty!
I hope that you enjoyed playing with violet as much as I do! As the days get even warmer and more plant friends pop up from the Earth, we will have a children’s summertime weed walk to share, stop back by to join us!
Until next time nerdy fairies, happy foraging!
Originally published in Natural Herbal Living Magazine, May 2014 and on Mama Rosemary