Gardens -- Preschool & Kindergarten
Flower Gardens
Fingerplays/Songs
A Flower
Here’s a green leaf,
(show hand)
And here’s a green leaf,
(show other hand)
That, you see, makes two.
(hold up two fingers)
Here is a bud,
(cup hands together)
that makes a flower;
Watch it bloom for you!
(open cupped hands gradually).
A Little Sun
A little sun (hold arms above head)
A little rain (wiggle fingers in the air in a downward motion)
Now pull up all the weeds (pretend to pull weeds)
Our flowers grow, all in a row (hold up all ten fingers lined up like flowers)
From tiny little seeds. (hold thumb and finger to show size of seeds)
Video
Art
Collage Flowers
Need: scraps of brightly colored construction paper, glue, crayons, markers, construction paper.
Give each child a piece of construction paper. Encourage the children to use the brightly colored scrap pieces to create flowers on their paper.
After the "flower collages" are dry, staple (left side) a sheet of paper on the back of of collage to create a book. Ask the child what he/she would like to say about their flower collage, child writes or an adult writes what child says.
Flower Petal Designs
Need: toilet paper rolls, construction paper, bright paint
Have the children glue pre-cut flower pot shapes onto the bottom of a piece of black construction paper. Dip a slightly flattened toilet paper roll into brightly colored paint, and stamp it onto the paper, stamping the "petals" in a circle, creating a flower design. The children can paint a stem, or use a green pipe cleaner for a stem. Use sponges cut as leaves for the leaf stamp, finishing off the activity.
Contributed By: Terra Vaughn
Blossoms
Sponge paint blossoms on crayoned tree trunks drawn on construction paper.
Easel
Cut easel paper into flower shapes.
Learning Centers
Flower Arranging
Artificial flowers and containers can be placed in the dramatic play area. The children can make centerpieces for the classroom tables.
Add sand and plastic flowers to the sensory table. Add also gardening tools and small containers for digging, filling and pouring
Can place water and watering cans in the sensory table.
Science/Math
Flower Cards
catalogs, magazines, file folders or cardboard cut to be cards, glue
Let the children construct flower picture cards. Have the children look through catalogs and magazines and cut out pictures of flowers. Glue the pictures onto old folders or cardboard.
When finished the cards can be used for sorting: Place a variety of colors of construction paper on the table and have the children sort the flower cards by color. Count the number of flowers by each color. Can create a graph. Place pieces of construction paper (can tape together and fold) and flower cards in a bag and place on the math table.
Flower Shop
Silk flowers, flowerpots, watering cans, gloves, plastic vases, seed packets, styrofoam balls, cash register, telephone, paper pads and pencils.
Children can stick the flowers into the styrofoam balls and put them into the vases. This eliminates the need for dirt or potting soil. Set up one part of the area as the flower arrangement area and a growing area. In another part of the area have the cash register, telephone, and pads for taking orders for the flower arrangements. Include pictures of flowers that have been cut from magazines as the flower shop brochure.
Flowers
Place a variety of flowers on the science table. The children can compare the color, shape, size, and smell of each flower.
Planting Seeds
Plant flower seeds in a styrofoam cup. Save the seed packages and mount on a piece of tagboard. Place this directly behind the containers on the science table. The children can compare their plants. When the plants start growing compare the seed packages to the plant growth.
Tall Flower from TeachPreschool
Make a tall flower from construction paper. Lay the flower on the floor. Children lay next to the flower. Which is taller the flower or the child?
Color Carnations
Add water to plastic cups or water bottle. Add about 10 to 20 drops of food color to each cup. Cut the stem of each carnation at an angle and place one carnation in each cup/bottle.
Make a multi-colored carnation. Take two plastic cups. Add a different food color, such as blue and red, to each cup. Cut the carnations stem at an angle then starting at the bottom of the carnation split the stem up the middle with a sharp knife (split stem about 1/3 to 1/2 length of flower stem). Place each half of the stem into separate cups. Check often to see how things are progressing.
If you use two colors, such as red and blue, when the colored water is drawn up into the flower there will be purple too. Ask the child where did the purple come from.
Rainbow Flower Bouquet from TeachPreschool
Pans of paint and tools to paint with, round sponges work great. White construction paper to create the flower bouquet on. Strips of green construction paper to glue down as stems.
Other Sites
How A Seed Grows - Mini Book
Flower Sequence Cards to Print - planting, growing a flower
Story
This educational and enjoyable book helps children understand how to plant bulbs, seeds, and seedlings, and nurture their growth.
Video
Legumes
Fingerplays/Songs
A Peanut Sat on a Railroad Track (song)
A peanut sat on a railroad track,
Its heart was all a-flutter.
Engine Nine came down the track,
Toot! Toot! Peanut butter!
Art
Climb Right Up
Need: Brown and green construction paper, scissors, markers, glue.
Invite children to cut, tear, and draw pictures of beans, bean sprouts, and bean stalks to decorate under the window in the science area. Encourage children to think about what they might find if they could climb to the top of their bean stalks.
Movement
Grow Like A Bean
Great activity to do after reading the story "Jack and the Beanstalk".
Need: Recording of rhythmic instrumental music.
Can children imagine they are magical, growing beans? Put on the music and encourage them to move their bodies as if they were just sprouting and then growing into strong, tall plants.
Vegetable/Fruit
Learning Centers
Vegetable-Fruit Stand
Set out a variety of plastic fruits and vegetable. Set up a shopping area with carts, cash registers, and play money. Provide a balance scale for children to weigh the produce.
Science
Colored Celery
In clear containers place several celery stalks with leaves. In each container add water and drops of different colors of food coloring. The leaves of the celery should turn colors in a few hours.
Try splitting a celery stalk in half, but do not spit the stalk all the way up to the top. Put one half of the stalk in red water, and the other half in blue water. Watch what happens to the leaves.
Movement
The Big Turnip-Creative Dramatics
After reading the story "The Great Big Enormous Turnip", dramatize the story. Pass out identifying pieces of clothing for each character. Hats work well for people and collars or signs for the animals. Retell the story, letting the children act the story out. Use as many characters as you have children. This would be a good outdoors activity.
The Great Big Enormous Turnip Movement Activity
Pair children and tell them to face each other holding hands. One child, pretending to be the farmer, stands straight. The other child pretending to be a turnip, squats.
The farmers chant:
Grow little turnip,
grow sweet.
Grow little turnip,
grow strong.
I'll pull and pull
and pull and pull,
'Til you pop right
out of the ground.
On the last line, the turnip pops up and the farmer squats down. Let children change partners after each round.
Potatoes
Science
Sweet Potato Plants
Help children insert 3 to 4 toothpicks horizontally around the middle of a sweet potato. Then balance the toothpicks on the rims of glass jars and add enough water to cover the bottom parts of their potatoes.
Keep water filled to this level. In about 2 weeks vines will begin to sprout and the children will have sweet potato plants.
Movement
Potato Hop
Cut ten large potato shapes from brown construction paper and number them from 1 to 10. Tape the shapes to the floor in from number 1 to 10. Let the children take turns hopping from one potato to the next as everyone chants the rhyme below.
One potato, two potato,
Three potato, four,
Five potato, six potato,
Seven potato, more,
Eight potato, nine potato,
Here is ten.
Now let's start all over again.
Watermelon
Art
Watermelon Art
Give each child a green construction paper circle and a red construction paper circle (slightly smaller). Have the children glue the red circle onto the green circle. Then have the children glue watermelon seeds or black paper punch circles all over their red circles.
Use the recipe"The Best Cooked Play Dough" and add watermelon flavored kool-aid or jello.
Science/Math
Sink or Float
Have students predict whether or not the watermelon will float in a tub of water. Record predictions and then place the watermelon in the tub of water.
Weight
Have each student lift the watermelon and estimate how much it weighs. Write down the estimates and check with a scale.
How Many Seeds?
Have each student estimate the number of seeds in the watermelon. Write down predictions. After the watermelon is cut and eaten, be sure to save all the seeds. In groups have the children place 10 seeds in a cup. Then gather the cups and place the "tens" into hundreds and figure out the final total of seeds.
Planting Watermelon Seeds
Have children plant watermelon seeds in egg cartons, small cups, or small milk cartons; use potting soil.
See Also
A Tribute to the Monarch Butterfly: How to Turn Your Backyard Into a Butterfly Sanctuary
