It’s Tuesday! It looks like the warm weather has left us for a few days, today will probably feel really chilly. Here are three invitations for preschool-aged children to investigate this morning.
Language/Literacy Invitation: Michelle Obama reads Mrs. Maple’s Seeds
These days there are so many amazing things happening online it can be difficult to decide what to share with our young children. We have really enjoyed Monday’s with Michelle Obama and were thrilled to see she is reading one of our favorite books this week. Mrs Maple’s Seeds by Eliza Wheeler is about caring for one another and finding a good place to grow. What will this story inspire in your child? You can follow the book with an indoor or outdoor seed hunt.
Art Invitation: Seed pictures
There are at least two variations to this invitation. The first is to invite your child to draw some seeds. This can be an observational drawing, or seeds from their imaginations. What do they think the seeds will grow into?
The second variation is to find seeds or seed pods around your house. These could be leftover from planting a garden, seeds from an apple from breakfast, or seeds from nature (acorns, maple seeds, etc.). Offer the seeds to your child along with paper, glue, and colored pencils or crayons. What will they create? Will they make a seed collage, or use the seeds as the starting point for a magical garden?
Both of these invitations are an opportunity for creative expression, fine motor skill-building, and critical thinking.
Science/Outdoor Invitation: Planting seeds
A key part of Lakewood’s Outdoor Learning Initiative is planting and caring for the school’s edible garden. This helps children connect with where fruits and vegetables come from, how much joy there is in the work of helping things grow, and often leads to tasting new things. Today, invite your child to plane some seeds. If you do not have vegetable seeds or a garden, there are many things you can grow indoors. Avocado pits are fairly easy to sprout suspended partway in a cup of water (use toothpicks to keep the pit from getting submerged), you can also plant orange or lemon seeds in a container of potting soil. Have your child plant the seeds ½” deep in the soil, set it in a sunny place, and water them so the soil stays moist. The seeds will take a few weeks to sprout, but orange and lemon trees can grow quite large. They can live outdoors in the summer, but need to overwinter inside in NC.
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