Garden Sprouts

Working and shopping in the Garden Shop was one of our favorite activities of the week. 

There were flowers, pots, seeds and watering cans for sale. We took turns being shoppers and workers. The shop was bustling all week long!

We read Jack's Garden by Henry Cole

and then at the painting easel, we painted our own gardens using seeds glued to the bottom of our paper as a starter for creativity. We painted flowers, worms, bugs, leaves, birds...all the things we saw in Jack's garden. 

Sticky boards helped us put together a flower puzzle.  We talked about the parts- there were seeds, roots, stems, leaves and petals. 

A magnifying glass and a variety of beans gave us a chance to compare and contrast. They were a variety of colors and sizes. We soaked a paper towel with water and placed it in a baggie and then chose a few beans to place in our "miniature greenhouses".  The paper towel is like a little bed for our seeds. Now we can watch them grow into plants with roots, stems, leaves and maybe petals...

Creating a "Rainbow Garden" seemed like the perfect thing to do after reading Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert.

Using a "rainbow of colors", we dipped flowers into paint and printed them onto our paper. 

We did an experiment with white carnations and colored water to show how plants or flowers drink water.

3 hours later...

We loved the results!

We culminated the week with The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. 

We dramatized a tiny seed growing in the earth. As we grew and swayed in the wind to the song, "Reach Up High", we were watered with a hose and watering can, the sun shone down upon us and bees and butterflies came to visit. 

We planted our own "tiny seeds"...

Now we can watch them grow!