Seeds...

On Monday we learned about seeds!

We started our circle time by making a diamond/rhombus with our fingers...

The kids also searched for items in the room that are shaped like a diamond/rhombus...

There wasn't a whole lot of things that were this shape, so they quickly realized that two triangles can make a diamond/rhombus!

Two set of butterfly wings also make a diamond/rhombus!

We sat in a circle and I gave each child a shape to hold.  I invited the child holding the named shaped to put it in the "garden" as we sang:

"Old McDonald had a garden.

E-I-E-I-O

And in his garden he had diamond seeds.

E-I-E-I-O

With a diamond here,

and a diamond there.

Here a diamond, there a diamond,

Everywhere a diamond seed.

Old McDonald had a garden.

E-I-E-I-O!"

Next, I asked the kids to tell me what they think grows out of a seed.  I recorded their ideas for them to read...

Mother Goose provided us with new pattern blocks this month!  I gave the blocks to the kids and asked them to sort them by their shape and color...

Next, I taught the kids that a garden of seeds is always planted in rows.  I encouraged the kids to plant a garden with the blocks by creating a different row for each shape.  We imagined what we thought would grow from each "seed."

  I left the pattern blocks out throughout the rest of the day for the kids to explore with...

For our next activity, I asked the kids what type of clothing they think would be best to wear when gardening.  They paged through our storybook and paid special attention to the different seeds and clothing the characters in the book wore.

Next, I read "Jack and the Beanstalk" along with storyboard pieces that Mother Goose provided.  This was a modern day version of the story, which was very fun and suitable for preschoolers.

  I left this out for the remainder of the day for the kids to play with and retell the story in their own way...

Mother Goose provided us with white paper, a green paper frame, and a green scrap.  I encouraged the kids to make a picture with a green frame (optional).  They could draw a garden and look through old magazines to add pictures of things they might find in a garden, or they could draw a picture of a different ending to the Jack and the Beanstalk story.

I was so impressed that R had thought to make his picture 3 dimensional!!!!

Next, I set out a couple of trays with a variety of fruits and vegetables with seeds.  I invited the kids to explore the seeds by looking, feeling, and smelling them!

While outside I surprised the kids with new items in our sensory table filled with soil!

They had so much fun playing in this!

The kids practiced counting and matching quantities in their math workbook.

They also cut apart seed packets with letters on them from their literacy workbook.  They played Memory with the cards by matching the uppercase letters to the lowercase letters.

These were our books for the day...

In the afternoon I set out many more seeds for the kids to look at.  They were surprised by the size of some of the seeds (ex: mango, avocado, and nectarine.)

Overall the kids learned that seeds can be different colors, shapes, and sizes!