Little Ones Learning About Plants

We are still anxiously awaiting the right time to plant in my neck of the woods. The garden centers and do-it-yourself stores are putting out their garden wares, and soon my kids will help plant our garden. So while we wait, I thought that now would be a good time to learn about plants, gardens, and vegetables. I decided to do several garden games and activities with my co-op toddler and preschool class.

First we read In the Garden: Who’s Been Here? By Lindsay Barrett George. The kids enjoyed trying to guess what animal was coming up in the book. We talked about what we might plant in our gardens, and shared what our favorite vegetables were.

I printed the craft from Homeschool Creation’s Garden Pack. I used this download plus the supplement I got from The Homeschool Village Garden Challenge.  (I love it when others have already done the work for me! 🙂 )

While they were working on the craft, we named the different vegetables in our baskets.

Next we discussed what a plant needs to grow and the parts of a flower. For this game I printed the control sheet in gray-scale. Then I printed the sheet again in color and cut apart. I handed each child one part of the puzzle and we worked as a group to put all the pieces in the correct place.

I thought about doing the Chia-pet egg craft with this group, but then decided the eggs would never make it home in one piece. I found these Zoo Pal cups on sale and thought this would work just as well. The bonus was each cup came with a lid which made for easy transportation home.  I brought in a dishpan of dirt, some scoops, grass seed and a spray bottle. The children loved the responsibility of planting their own seeds. My daughters (4 & 2) still water theirs faithfully every day.

I had more planned but we spent so much time planting that we didn’t get to the rest. I plan on doing those activities at home with my girls and will post them when we are finished.

I’m working on my garden post for next week’s link-up at The Homeschool Village. (April 28th (10amEST) for the next Garden link up and new sponsor / giveaway!) You have time to get yours ready too 🙂