When you think of spring, what do you think of? Playing outside in the rain and puddles, or perhaps sunshine and flowers come to mind! Planting and gardening with children are activities that engage many senses; from the smell of the dirt, to the feeling of the flower petals. It also helps work those important fine motor muscles, gives children a sense of responsibility, and teaches patience.
We hope your family enjoys our Flowery take home kit. May 8th is Mother’s Day and we hope these activities create an opportunity for quality one-on-one time with your child.
Bean Flower Sprouting
What you need: Beans, paper towel, plastic bag, “greenhouse” printout
How to do it:
Place the beans and wet paper towel in the bag.
Design and colour your greenhouse!
Cut out the window, attach your bean bag and place your greenhouse near a window. Now wait for your seeds to grow! (It will take a few days)
* While you’re waiting for your seeds to sprout, have conversations about what you think will happen. Make predictions; which seed will sprout first? How long will it take to grow out of the bag? * Try drawing the different stages to document your beans growth.
When your plant has grown, open the bag and see how tall it has grown in the bag. You can also try planting it outside in a garden or in a pot.
Design your own flower
What you need:
White paper - MacTac - crayons - tissue paper
How to do it:
On your white paper, design your flower! Please note, while new crayons are nice, broken crayons work well too as they still have lots of life. Smaller pieces held by small hands, aid in the development of your child’s fine motor skills. How big will your flower be? What colour? How many petals? Will your flower have a stem and leaves? Use your imagination and give your new flower a name!
Next, carefully peel back the paper from the MacTac. Place the MacTac STICKY SIDE UP on top of your flower. You may want to fold the corners over and stick them to the white paper so it stays in place.
Place small pieces of tissue paper onto the MacTac, tracing your flower. You can place the tissue paper flat or use your fingers to roll little balls to make it stand out! Try using the end of a crayon or pencil to place your tissue paper
You can also use materials you have around the home like scrap paper, paint chips, pasta, small stones, grass or whatever you like!
Mother’s Day Card
What you need:
Printed Mother’s Day card - crayons - your child’s hand
How to do it:
Have your child decorate the card as they like. Children are natural “givers” and love to share their creations. Giving their creations to others helps them develop their sense of empathy and generosity, as well as their own self-esteem and pride in their work and creativity.
Help your child trace their hand at the top of the flower stem. Children love to look back at these memories and note their change in size. Talk to them about how their hands used to be smaller and will grow bigger. Compare the size of your hands to your child’s. Ask them which is bigger and which is smaller. Try comparing your hand sizes to other family members. Are their hands bigger or smaller?