From: "Leanne Smith

Collage
Make collages using all types of seeds and beans. This activity can also
be
used by cutting pictues from seed catalogs.

Rooting a Sweet Potato
To root a sweet potato in water, push toothpicks halfway into the potato.
Then place the potato in a glass of water with the toothpicks resting on
the
top rim. Make sure the end of the potato is immersed in water. Place the
glass where it will receive adequate light. Maintain the water level so
that the bottom of the potato is always immersed. Note that in a few
weeks
roots will grow out of the sides and bottom of the potato, and leaves will
grow out of the top. The plant can be left in the water or replanted in
soil. This activity provides the children an opportunity to observe root
growth.

VOCABULARY:
Bulb-a type of seed.
Flower-part of the plant that has colored petals.
Garden-a place to grow plants.
Greenhouse-building for growing plants and flowers.
Leaf-flat green part of a plant.
Rake-a tool with teeth or prongs.
Soil-Top of the ground.
Root-part of the plant that grows into the ground.
Seed-part of the plant from which a new plant will grow.
Stem-part of the plant that holds the leaves and flowers.
Vegetable-a plant that can be eaten.
Hoe-a tool with a thin blade.
Weed-plant that is not needed.

Planting Song

I took a little seed one day
About a month ago..
I put it in a pot of dirt
In hopes that it would grow.

I poured a little water
To make the soil just right.
I set the pot upon the sill
Where the sun would give it light.

I checked the pot most every day,
And turned it once or twice.
With a little care and water
I helped it grow so nice.

GARDEN STEW
Gardens grow so many wonderful vegetables that we can use in the following
recipe. So, let the kids make lunch today! Healthy, good tasting, and an
easy recipe.
2 lbs ground beef 1 15oz can tomato sauce
1 onion, diced (optional) 4 cups water
6 potatoes, diced 1 tsp. salt
6 carrots, diced 1/2 tsp. pepper
1 can green beans (or 1/2 lb fresh)
1 can whole-kernel corn (or fresh from 3 ears of corn)
dash of oregano

Brown ground beef and onions: drain. Add remaining ingredients. Cook on
medium heat for 20 minutes and simmer for 30 additional minutes.
(Increase
time if fresh green beans are used). Makes 12 servings.


Books and Stories:
The Rose In My Garden by Arnold Lobel
Really Spring by Gene Zion
The Plant Sitter by Gene Zion
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
Dandelion by Ladislav Svatas
Seeds and More Seeds by Millicent Selsam
I Found A Leaf by Sharon Lerner
Who Goes There In My Garden? by Ethel Collier
The Turnip by Janina Domanska
Where Does Your Garden Grow? by August Goldin
Busy Seeds by Irma Simonton Black
My Garden Grows by Aldren Watson
Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
Willie's Garden by Myra McGee
Let's Grow a Garden by Gyo Fujikawa
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss



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Birdseed Garden

Need:

Birdseeds
sponge
plastic plate

Place a sponge soaked with water in a plastic plate and allow child to
sprinke
it with birdseeds. Place the plate in a sunny place and watch for the
seeds to
sprout! The seeds will continue to sprout as long as the child keeps
water in
the plate.

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Chia Pet Egg

Need:

Eggshell with the top 1/4 broken off
Ring cut from an empty paper towel roll to hold the eggshell
3 Damp cotton balls
1/8 teaspoon alfalfa seeds
Fine tip markers

Set the empty eggshell in the holder cut from the empty paper towel roll.
Draw
a face on the eggshell with colored markers. Place damp cotton balls
inside
eggshell. Sprinkle seeds over the cotton and keep the cotton damp. In two
or
three days, the seeds will begin to sprout. Put in a sunny spot. As the
sprouts grow, your child can give the egg friend a "haircut".
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Pop Up Flower"

You will need:
1 brown sock (a dad sock works great)
1 medium sized plastic flower with stem
Felt: Yellow (cut to quarter size to look like a seed)(you can use any
color of your choice)
scissors
fabric glue

1. Take sock and cuff it.
2. Take yellow felt (seed) and glue to center of cuff.
3. Let dry. If glue does not hold sew seed to cuff (I did so it would
stay
permanently)
4. Then placing hand into sock so tips of fingers touch the end, snip a
TINY hole.
5. Now take flower and stem and place through hole, push down flower
into the sock so sock, which now has become the soil, is completely
covering the flower.
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While hand is placed in its hidden soil sing this song:(tune Pop Goes
the Weasel)
"Up Pops the Flower"
We plant a seed in the ground, (point to seed)
The rain falls in a shower, (Do falling rain with opposite hand)
The sun comes up and what do you know (look up toward sky and point)
UP POPS A FLOWER!!!!!!! ( pop out the flower with your hand).

My co teacher and I made these individually with the kids and they love
them.

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Seeds/Growing
Story - The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle - This is a wonderful story to
show children the life cycle of a plant.

Art - Teacher can cut out large flowers, stems, and leaves. Children
can glue their pieces onto construction paper. In the middle of the
flower have children glue sunflower seeds. The children also glue a
paper printed with title and author to show the parents what we have
read.

Science - Have children sponge paint the outside of a styrofoam cup.
After it dries, fill it with potting soil and plant sunflower seeds. If
you have room in your classroom, grow them at school.
As a group activity, show what happens if you don't water, what happens
if you don't have light. Place several plants away from the light and
watch how plants reach for the light.

Patterning - Cut out flower petals of several colors to be used on the
flannel board. Begin to construct your flower by alternating two colors
. Example - yellow, pink, yellow, pink, yellow. Have the children tell
you what comes next and complete the flower. Make enough petals so
everyone in your group can have one. Start the pattern and let them
finish. After they understand the concept let the children play this
activity during your free time.

Story - Jack and the Beanstalk - Find a version that is not
frightening.

Science - Have the children plant pole beans so they can grow a
beanstalk.

Reading - Out of tag, cut a large letter "B" for each child. Let them
glue an assortment of bean seeds on the letter or glue beans plus
addituional things that begin with "B" like beads, bow tie pasta,
buttons, butterfly and bear punchouts, etc. Before starting this
activity reinforce the rule that nothing goes into the mouth.
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Here's a few ideas for a unit on flowers:

Flowers (sung to the tune of "Pop! Goes the Weasel")

All around the forest ground
There's flowers everywhere.
There's pink, yellow, and purple too.
Here's one for you.
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Flower Arranging:

I bought an assortment of plastic flowers and put them in our rice
table (or in the sand box, etc.). I put little plastic pots and toy
shovels, etc. The children have really enjoyed this activity.
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Muffin Cup Flowers:

Children can glue muffin cup liners to paper, add stems and leaves
using construction paper. You can even add a little perfume to the
muffin cup liner.
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GARDENS

Books:

The Carrot Seed ----- Ruth Krauss
The Rose in My Garden ----- Arnold Lobel
The Reason For A Flower ----- Ruth Heller
The Tiny Seed ----- Eric Carle
Growing Vegetable Soup ----- Lois Ehlert
One Watermelon Seed ----- Celia Barker Lottridge
See My Garden Grow ----- Jane Mancure
Pumpkin Pumpkin ----- Jeanne Titherington
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Have the children choose eight to ten seeds that they want to plant
in their gardens. Challenge
them to devise their own planting methods or one of the following:

Cup of Seeds:
Stuff crumpled paper towels into a clear plastic cup, and add
water to dampen but not soak them.
Place some seeds between the side of the cup and the paper
towel so that they are visible from the outside.
Cover the cup with plastic wrap, and tape a second cup on top
of the first.
Bag of Seeds
Place a paper towel in a zip lock baggie.
Place seeds in the bag and some water to dampen the towel.
Zip closed.
Graph vegetable preferences
Make playdoh vegetables
Write about the insects in the garden
Design a seed package
Act out gardening experiences
Sing Going on a Lion Hunt but change to going on a creature hunt as
though your are looking for slugs, worms etc. in your garden
Gardening.com --- contains links to great gardens online and a
plant
encyclopedia

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The Seeds Grow - tune:Farmer in the Dell

The gardner plants the seeds
The gardner plants the seeds
Deep down inside the ground
The gardner plants the seeds

The rain clouds give them water
The rain clouds give them water
seeds need some water to drink
The rain clouds give them water

The sun gives heat and light
The sun gives heat and light
Seeds like it warm and bright
The sun gives heat and light

The gardner pulls the weeds
The gardner pulls the weeds
Seeds need the room to grow
The gardner pulls the weeds

The seeds grow into flowers
The seeds grow into flowers
Flowers that are beautiful
The seeds grow into flowers

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Seeds - tune: Twinkle, twinkle little star

Dig a hole deep in the ground
Spread some tiny seeds around
Pat them down - so they will keep
They are lying fast asleep
Rain will help the seeds to grow
Sunshine keeps them warm I know

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I'm a Tiny Seed - tune: I'm a Little Teapot

I'm a tiny seed, deep in the ground
I lie asleep - I don't make a sound
I am waking up now - see me sprout

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A beautiful free art you can pretty much do with children of all ages.
Choose 3 or 4 colours of paint and pour a thin amount into a shallow
dish
(a cookie sheet would do, or something smaller of that shape) Set 2 bows
in
each dish (the more decorative the bow the more variety of "flower"
shapes
you will create. Have the children stamp the bows after they have been
dipped in the paint, onto a large pre-cut piece of paper. I lay the
paper
out the length of the table the children are working on. Depending on
the
ages of the children you can paint the stems and leaves onto the
"stamped"
flowers or with older children they can. I also take my green paint and
paint grass on the bottom to give this work of art an garden look. I
don't
choose green for my "flower" colours so as not to get too much green in
our
picture.

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What an admirable and
ambitious goal to grow a garden of healthy snack
foods! Below is a list of
good candidates for such a garden. Most of
these can be nibbled fresh off
the plant.

Snap peas - Grow the peas with the edible pod for best
snacking.
Cherry tomatoes - Small tomatoes that are just the right size for
little
hands. Orange or yellow varieties are good for small children who
have a
hard time waiting until tomatoes turn red.
Carrots - Sweet treasures
hidden underground.
Cucumbers - Lemon cucumbers can be eaten like an apple
fresh from the garden.
Sunflowers (seeds) - Grow enough to share with the
birds.
Soybeans - These are good raw or lightly steamed.
Green beans -
Another food that kids will gobble up in the garden, but
won't touch them on
the dinner plate.
Raspberries - Everbearing raspberries will pump out sweet
snacks all season
long.
Strawberries - Strawberries are a must for kids to
munch on in a child's
garden.
Lettuce - A mild leaf to eat alone or with
other greens.
Popcorn - It is possible that popcorn was the first type of
corn ever grown
for food. Ears of popcorn have been found that were more
than 5,600 years
old!
Mini zucchini - These are best when eaten small,
about 4 or 5 inches.
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The Seed Cycle
(to the tune of Farmer in the Dell)

The farmer sows his seeds.
The farmer sows his seeds.
Hi Ho the dairy-o,
The farmer sows his seeds.

other verses:
The rain begins to fall...
The sun begins to shine...
The seeds begin to grow..
The plants grow big and tall...
The farmer cuts his corn...
And now the harvest is on....


AN EXPERIMENT
Put cold water into three glasses and add drops of food colouring to each.
Stand white flowers in each glass. After a few days the petals will start
to
change colour.
Leave for two more days and the flowers will be the same colour as the
water
they're standing in.
Ask the children why this happens.
Get the children to record the experiment by drawing what they saw.

PAPER PLATE FLOWERS
Make flower designs on paper plates using a marking pen.
Cut out the petal shapes.
Paint or stick coloured tissue paper on the flower shapes and glue balls
of
yellow tissue to the centres.
Glue or staple the flower to a green painted drinking straw.
Cut leaves from thick paper, paint and fasten to the stem.











Corn Sprouts
Using a small ziploc bag, place about 6 T. of soil in the bottom
of the bag and bury a few popcorn kernels in the soil. Add a little
water and seal the bag. Tape the bag to the inside of the class window
and watch for changes. The bag creates a mini-terrarium. Transplant
the sprouts when they out-grow the bag. They should sprout in about a
week.
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Potato Sprouts
Insert toothpicks around the circumference of each potato, just
above the middle. Fill a jar larger than the potato half way with
water. Insert the bottom half of each potato in a jar by resting the
toothpicks on the rim of the jar so the potato is partially in the
water. It should sprout in about 2 weeks.
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Root Viewer
Begin by taking a carboard milk carton and cutting out a flap on
one side, cut three sides so it can be opened like a door. Tape a piece
of plastic wrap over the window on the inside. Fill the carton with
soil and plant a couple of seeds (pumpkin works well). Place the side
opposite the window up on a block the the carton is at and angle. When
the plant begins to grow, the roots will grow towards the window,
allowing you to open the window and see the roots. Be sure to keep the
window closed when not viewing.

Give each child one of those "Filmy" scarves and show them how to
stuff it into one of their fists, using the fingers of their other
hand to "poke" it in between their fingers. Then tell a simple story
about a flower waking up in the sun and blooming as you slowly open
your hand. First lift off your thumb and see it as a "bud" then a
little more at a time until it "blooms" fully open. Very cute and
they love it.

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Mary Planted Her Garden
(Mary Had a Little Lamb)

Mary planted her garden,
her garden, her garden.
Mary planted her garden
with rows of pretty bells.

Mary planted her garden,
her garden her garden.
Mary planted her garden,
With rows of cockleshells

(let children make up additional verses as desired)

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Flowers Growing
by Jean Warren

Tell the following story to your children. Have them act out the
movements as they listen.

Once upon a time there was a tiny flower seed buried deep in the cold,
hard dirt. Gradually, as the spring came, the days grew long, and the
sun began to warm the earth. The little seed grew warmer and warmer
and soon began to stretch and reach out for the warm earth above. As
the seed stretched, he grew a stem and roots and became a plant. He
worked hard pushing his roots down deep into the dirt to steady
himslef as he slowly climbed out of the dirt. He pushed and pushed
and finally poked his head out of the ground.
With the help of the sun and the spring rains, the little plant grew
straight and strong and soon developed a bud on the end of his stem.
As the days grew warmer, his bud gradually unfolded, revealing a
beautiful flower inside. All through the happy days of summer the
little flower brightened the world, filling it with colour and a
delightful smell. The bees tickeled his nose, and the wind helped him
dance.
But as the summer wore on, the little flower soon began to grow tired.
His colour faded and he started to dry up, but we must not be sad
for the little flower because he had been waiting all summer for this
time. Now it was time for him to release he treasure pouch he had
been storing up. With the help of the wind, the little fower
scattered new seeds upon the earth, new seeds that would gradulaly
work their way down into the soft warm earth, curl up, fall aslleep,
and wait to be awakended by the spring when it arrived once again.

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Down in the Garden

Down in the garden, early in the morning,
See the yellow daffodils all in a row.
(bow heads.)
See them lift their head snd
give their horns a blow
(lift head and pretend to blow horns)
Toot, toot, toot, toot, off they go.

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Out in the Garden

Out in the garden
Under the sun,
Grew some carrots
Ryan picked one.

Out in the garden,
Under skies so blue
grew some carrots
Tia picked two.

Out in the garden
Near a big oak tree,
Grew some carrots
Cameron picked three

Out in the garden
by the back door,
grew some carrots
emily picked four.

Out in the garden,
Near a beehive, grew some carrrots
Max picked five.

We took those carrots
and washed the whole bunch,
then we all sat down
and ate them for lunch.
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Watermelon Echo Song
(Frere Jacques)

Oh No (Oh No)
I just swallowed ( I just swallowed)


Dig and Hoe
(My Bonnie lies over the ocean)

In my garden I like to work
In my garden I dig in the ground
In my garden I grow great big vegetables
and have lots of flowers around,
dig, hoe, dig, hoe
In my garden this grow, grow, grow.
Dig, hoe, dig ,hoe
In my garden things grow.

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Flower Garden
(Farmer in the Dell)

The farmer plants the seeds
The farmer plants the seeds
Hi, ho the cherry-oh
the farmer plants the seeds

additional verses:
The rain begins to fall
The sun begins to shine
The plants begin to grow
The buds all open up
The flowers are here at last.
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Stories

The Carrot Seed - by Ruth Krauss
Planting a Rainbow - Lois Ehlert

Read "Eating throught the Alphabet" by Lois Elhert. Name many garden
veggies.
Plant a classroom garden.
Make garden salad.
Visit local botanical gardens.

Have one plastic clear cup for each child. Have them fold to fit around
sides of cup a paper towel. Wet the paper towel and then add beans between
the towel and the cup ,dried peas, pop corn any thing that will sprout.
Keep
the towel wet and in the sun as much as possible. We ususally send home
with
children when most have roots and may be the starting of leaves. We have
had
children tell us they have got beans off the bean plants ,of course they
took it home and planted it in soil

SEEDS
Place various seeds and seed packets in a small dish or tray so the
children
can see the differences in sizes and characteristics. Help the children
plant some seeds such as pumpkin seeds (saved from last October's
jack-o-lantern), carrot seeds, bean seeds, and some flower seeds.
If possible, plant some of these outside. Discuss what wil be needed in
order to plant the seeds. If planting will be done outside, have tools
available for the children to use to dig up the garden area.

PLANTS BULLETIN BOARD
Materials Needed:
construction paper (green, brown, blue and white)
scissors
crayons and markers
stapler or tape
cotton balls

Preparation:
Across the bottom of the bulletin board, attach a 4" or 5" piece of
brown
construction paper for the dirt. Add a strip of green paper for grass
above the
brown strip. The remainder of the board will be light blue for the sky.
Make
fluffy
clouds for the blue sky. Place a brown tree trunk in the middle of the
board.
Draw roots running from the trunk down into the soil.
Let the children add leaves and flowers to the tree to show growth. As
the days
progress, they can add flowers and other plants to the board.
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GROW A PINE CONE TREE
Materials Needed:
pine cone for each child (keep inside over night so they will be dry and
wide open)
grass seed in measuring cup or cup with pouring spout
small jar in which pine cone can sit, but not go all the way into
water in bowl

Activity:
Each child will wet his pine cone in the bowl of water. Fill a jar with
water and
set the pine cone in the top of the jar. About 1/4 of the pine cone needs
to
fit snugly in the jar and reach the water. Sprinkle the pine cone
generously
with grass seed. Place the jars in a windowsill. Help the children add
water
to their jars when needed. Be careful not to wash the seeds away. Grass
will
sprout in a few days.

THIS IS THE WAY WE PLANT OUR SEEDS
Have the children act out each verse as they sing along to the tune of
"Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush."

This is the way we plant our seeds,
Plant our seeds, plant our seeds.
This is the way we plant our seeds,
Early in the morning.

This is the way the wind does blow,
Wind does blow, wind does blow.
This is the way the wind does blow,
Early in the morning.

This is the way the rain comes down,
Rain comes down, rain comes down.
This is the way the rain comes down,
Early in the morning.

This is the way the sun shines bright,
Sun shines bright, sun shines bright.
This is the way the sun shines bright,
Early in the morning.

This is the way the seed grows up,
Seed grows up, seed grows up.
This is the way the seed grows up,
Early in the morning.

This is the way we hoe the soil,
Hoe the soil, hoe the soil.
This is the way we hoe the soil,
Early in the morning.

This is the way we pick our beans,
Pick our beans, pick our beans.
This is the way we pick our beans,
Early in the morning.