Plants are growing!

Preschool

Cute, cute, cute, cute kids! I just love these little ones. We were able to start today's lesson with the big reveal: our seeds are growing! I let the kids know that last week after they went home I added a couple radish seeds to each pot so they were growing radishes AND pumpkins. They were all excited to see their little seedlings sprouting and reaching for the sun.

We continued our discussions on plants. I know, but I could do 8 lessons on this subject matter! I hope your kids are enjoying it. I wish I had a budget to go purchase additional things like a school would have, but I think pictures from books are helping them grasp. We discussed that different types of flowers attract different types of visitors from bats to bumble bees, from moths to butterflies, flies to people. They were all very excited to learn about the Venus Fly Trap that actually EATS its visitors. We took turns being a fly or the plant to capture the buzzing insect.

Some interesting plant facts that one of your preschoolers may share or attempt to share with you:

• A strange plant grows in Africa's Namib Desert. Its leaves soak up water vapor from fog and it lives for at least a thousand years. (The book did not provide the name.)
• Flies visit a stapelia flower to lay their eggs. They come because it looks and smells like rotting meat.
• The edelweiss flower has a coat of fluff. It keeps the warmth in and the cold out.
• The flower of the rafflesia plant is the biggest flower in the world. It measures nearly a yard across (about a child's armspan.)
• The victoria amazonica water lily is strong enough for a child to stand on its thick, floating leaves.

To increase understanding of parts of a plant, we worked on a picture of a flower that we colored, cut out and assembled like a puzzle. (Thank you Aunt Mary) Much discussion ensued about where the bud vs. flower vs. fruit ought to go! They all complained of their little hands getting tired from coloring and cutting--I think some more conditioning activities are in order! How are they going to bring us oodles and oodles of kindergarden crafts for us to keep until they go to college if their little paws aren't strong enough? LOL!

I'd have to say my favorite moment today was at the end when they drew their spring time pictures. They each shared what they had drawn by saying "In the Spring I like to . . . . " Each one kind of snuggled against me and explained what they had drawn to the group. Many had such sweet answers, but Sienna's took the prize: Her picture was of a couple getting married.

Jocelyn said "In the spring I like to play outside with my brothers, my Mommy and my Daddy and smell all the flowers!"

Me too sweet girl!

We also read Tops and Bottoms and Mortimer's First Garden. Both are fantastic books and are available at the Lehi Library. The kids were equally enamored with both. I think I may read them again next time.