Discovering Rose: A Free Herbal Activity Book
Not only do rose plants offer incredible spring beauty with their amazing flowers, they bear delicious fruit in the fall as well. Rosalee just wrote an amazing post about the benefits of rosehips, so I thought it would be fun to make a holiday activity book for kids so they can experience the joy of discovering roses and rosehips as well!
Rosehips contain bioflavonoids and antioxidants that are helpful for our bodies and they are especially high in vitamin C, which can help us combat colds and flus this time of year. Fresh rose hips will have the highest vitamin C content, with one hip containing an amount similar to an entire orange.
Depending on the weather in your area, you may be able to find some rosehips to harvest right now. The hips will vary in size depending on the type of rose, but look for a bright red fruit where the flowers have fallen away.
Inside the hips are seeds surrounded by tiny hairs. The seeds are not edible and the hairs can be very irritating to your throat, so nibbling the flesh of the fruit carefully from the outside is the way to enjoy them right off the bush. You can also take the rose hips home and freeze them and then cut them in half and scoop out the seeds and hairs. This is more easily done when the hips are frozen. You can then use the hips to make rosehip honey or delicious gummies.
I’ve included both recipes in a fun Discovering Rose Activity Book that you can share with your kids this year.
First you’ll learn all about the wild rose plant, Rosa rugosa, and some ways to use rose flowers and hips for first aid. In addition to the recipes for rosehip honey and gummies, I’ve included a very simple recipe for bath salts with dried rose petals. Your kids might like to make these salts as holiday gifts for family and friends.
The activity book also includes a coloring page from the coloring book that comes with our Wildcraft! board game and a crossword puzzle.
Finally, you’ll get to meet Rosa, the rose fairy from my Herb Fairies book series by coloring her and making a fairy paper doll!
We hope you enjoy this special holiday gift from LearningHerbs. Print and share it as many times as you would like.
If you want to share your passion for herbs with the young people in your life in another fun way, consider my Wildcraft! board game. It is a delightful way to spend a cozy family day during your holiday break. Brew up some rosehip or rose petal tea to drink while you play!
May you enjoy my Discovering Rose Activity Book and may we all stay healthy, warm, and nourished this winter!
—Kimberly
🔽 Click to download the activity book.
The Herbal Remedy Vault has all of our printable recipe cards...
