Most children love being out in nature and are excited to participate in any learning that explains how the world around them works. My twin toddlers are the same and started showing so much interest in books about plants, so I figured I would entertain their curiosity. We went on a learning journey learning all about plants step by step! Below are all the fun activities we did.

The Parts of a Plant Tray

We began our studies by reading, observing and identifying plant parts on our indoor plants and in books. When we started our studies, it was still frigid outside. I compiled a beautiful sensory invitation of a flower with painted cardboard and chickpeas.

While the girls played, we discussed the functions of each part of the plant:

Stem: The stem carries the water and food (nutrients and minerals) to the rest of the flower. The water and food travel up the stem to the other parts of the flower.

Flower: The flowers are the part that are responsible for making food.

Leaf: The leaves are attached to the stem and help to collect sunlight and air for the flower.

Roots: The roots grow in the ground and pull in the water and nutrients to the flower. They also help keep the plant stable.

I decided to keep the explanation of the functions of each plant part simple because the girls are still very young and will have the opportunity to revisit the parts of a plant in the future.

This activity helped the girls with:

• Learning life skills: They were able to work together to scoop and fill in all the parts of the plant.
• Developing their oral language and vocabulary as they learned the names of the parts of the plant and repeated them numerous times as they played.
• Making memories and having fun as they enjoyed making a great mess as they played and learned.
• Using their senses of sight, touch and hearing as they scooped and poured.
• Working on their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as they scooped and poured to fill in each part of the plant with coloured chickpeas.

The Parts Of A Plant Collage

 

The girls Worked at completing this simple collage of a flower while we discussed the plant parts and their functions from the previous lesson. 

Materials you need for this activity:

• Blue construction paper for a background.
• Brown construction paper for the soil.
• A jumbo craft stick for the stem. 
• Foam sheets for cutting out the leaves and the flowers.
• Brown yarn for the roots.
• Almonds
• Printed labels for the parts of the plants.
• Glue
• Scissors
• Pencil

This activity can be recreated using your imagination and items that can be found around the home. Example: cardboard for the roots and stems or just using a marker to simply write the names of the plant parts. 

Flower Painting with Dropper

I try to incorporate sensory activities in all our days because the girls enjoy them, they are using their senses, the learning is hands-on, and the sensory activities keep them engaged.

This simple and fun activity was created by:

• Drawing a large flower on cardboard.
• Using glue to outline the flower on the cardboard with small cardboard strips. 
• Cotton balls opened and placed into each petal.
• Filling icetrays with water and a variety of food colouring.
• Placing droppers into the coloured water.
• Placing the flower on a table and the water and the food colouring into a shallow tub.

This activity helped the girls to:

• Review their colours.
• Work on their fine motor skills as they used the droppers to paint the cotton ball flower.
• Work on their hand-eye coordination as they worked on filling the droppers and moving them over to the flower.
• Work on their social skills as they worked as a team to get the job done.

Our Ziploc Bag Green House

The day we planted our beans, we read a cool book entitled One Bean by Anne Rockwell. The illustrations were so simple and beautiful and made it easy for the girls to understand the process of how a bean turns into a plant. After we read, the girls were given the opportunity to plant their beans in a damp paper towel placed in a sandwich bag.

We decorated our greenhouse with a template we found online.

How we planted our beans

• We damped and folded a piece of paper towel and placed it in a sandwich bag.
• The girls placed the seeds they were planting into the bags. (Our seeds were left soaking overnight.) I allowed my girls to count out five seeds each to put in their sandwich bags just in case some seeds did not grow.
• I then stapled the bags to the back of the greenhouse template.
• We then taped the greenhouse to a bright, sunny window to watch our seeds grow!

The girls and I checked on the seeds daily. Within three days, the seeds started to grow. When it is warmer out, I will allow the girls to plant some seeds outside so they can care for them and watch them grow.

Simple seed counting activity to practice the skill of one-to-one correspondence.

This activity was super fun and easy to create. I drew flowers on cardboard, coloured them and glued some seeds to the centre of each flower.

The girls had so much fun counting the seeds and covering them with the bottle caps with the corresponding numbers. 

The girls are now able to identify any amount from 1 to 5 and I am super proud of them!

What Do Plants Need to Grow Upper and Lowercase Alphabet Match

I made this simple cardboard upper and lowercase matching activity so that while the girls learned about what a plant needs to grow, they could review letters and their corresponding sounds. This activity was hands-on and kept them focused for quite some time. While the girls searched for the lowercase letters in the bin, we discussed all that a plant needs to grow:

• Water
• Sunlight
• Soil
• Air

This activity was useful for:

• Learning new vocabulary.
• Expanding their understanding of plants.
• Hand-eye coordination.
• Memory and focus as the girls searched for the lowercase letters to match the uppercase letters.
• Providing a fun sensory experience.
• Enhancing social skills as the girls worked together to match the letters.
• Providing them with an opportunity to review some letters of the alphabet and their respective sounds.

Build The Garden Fence Number Pattern/Sequence and Counting Activity

The day we did this activity, our focus was on numbers, so I created this DIY counting activity for the girls to work on sequencing/patterning numbers, number names, and the Math concept of one-to-one correspondence.

Why is number sequence important for young children?

At its core, Mathematics is the study of numbers and their relationship with each other. That is why it is important to make sure children have a solid understanding of number patterns and sequences before progressing to more complex mathematical topics.

The ability to recognise patterns in groups of numbers will help a child develop critical thinking skills and prepare them for more complex mathematical operations in years to come.

Also, patterns are not just found in Math but also in nature, art, and music. When a child can recognise and build upon sequences or patterns, it will help them throughout their learning journey.

How We Used Our Activity Board:

The girls and I worked together to identify the numbers on the board and the craft sticks.

I used a small wooden pointer to touch and count each corresponding dot for numbers 1-10 with the girls. We then searched for the corresponding craft stick for each space on the fence.

After we worked together, all the craft sticks were removed and placed into the wooden container for the girls to work on building the fence on their own. They did a good job!

This activity was created by using:

• Markers
• Blue paint
• Cardboard
• Craft sticks
• Small wooden pointer
• Wooden box

Counting Beans

This activity was used to practice the skill of one-to-one correspondence and also allowed the girls to work on their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

What you will need to recreate this activity:

• A piece of easel paper
• Construction paper to create your bean pods.
• A marker to write the heading and numbers.
• Playdough
• I used painter’s tape to hold the paper down because I have toddler twins, and they move a lot.

Sticker Number Garden

This is an easy sticker activity we used for identifying numbers 1-20 that can be recreated with construction paper, markers and stickers.

Our Garden Invitation To Play

You can see their little hands all over the tray as I tried to capture an image!

While they played, we:

• Counted seeds.
• Searched for worms in the mud.
• Explored the grass for the garden bugs. 
• Transplanted flowers from the garden to flower pots.
• Discussed the parts of a plant and what plants need to grow.
• Discussed some foods we get from plants.
• Reviewed colours.
• Reviewed the concept of half as I encouraged the girls to share the vegetables.

The sections of the tray the girls enjoyed the most were the parts with the homemade playdough. They enjoyed pretending they were planting and finding seeds.

This activity kept them busy for a while as they used their senses to explore and learn while creating fun memories.

DIY Foods We Get From Plants Puzzle

I made this simple two-piece puzzle with cardboard and paint for the girls! They enjoyed identifying the fruits and vegetables and putting the pieces together. This activity is great for extending vocabulary and reviewing colours with your little ones.

For toddlers and young children alike, there are just so many educational, developmental benefits for them when they begin using puzzles.

Puzzles provide toddlers and young children with educational growth opportunities in the following areas:

• Fine motor development
• Cognitive skills
• Hand-eye coordination
• Self-esteem
• Social skills

You can check out our previous post on How to Make A Two-Piece Puzzle For Your Toddlers’ Educational Growth to read more about the benefits of using puzzles with your little ones.

Our Food We Get From Plants Tray

This tray was a hit with the girls as it required using their sense of taste!

While we explored this tray, we discussed the following:

• Foods we get from plants
• The different tastes of the foods.
• The different textures of the food.
• Plants with and without seeds.
• The parts of the plants that we can eat.
• The fact that some foods are cooked before eating.
• The colours of the food on our tray.

We also reviewed letters and their corresponding sounds and counted beans.

When it was time to clean up, we got a compost bag to put the waste in. Talking about how to dispose of food is an excellent extension for older toddlers.

Fruits and Vegetables Wash

While the washing invitation to play is super simple and straightforward, it is loved by children. The girls enjoyed washing the fruits and vegetables and putting them together.

This activity can be extended by providing toddlers with soap and an extra bin to wash and rinse separately. You can also provide them with a towel to dry their fruits and vegetables.

Jell-O Garden Bug Rescue

This is a fun and easy activity to put together, and the girls enjoyed just touching and tasting the Jell-O. Even though they thought the bugs were cool, they did not rescue them. The Jell-O got rescued instead.

This activity allowed the girls to use early problem-solving skills and to explore using their senses of taste, touch and smell.

What you need to put this activity together:

• Green Jell-O packet
• Ice-trays
• Fake garden bugs
• Spoon or tongs

Follow the instructions on the Jell-O to make a batch of green Jell-O.

Place a bug into each section of the ice tray, fill each section with the Jell-O mixture, and place in the refrigerator to set.

Once completely set, you can remove the Jell-O from the tray and place them in a container with the spoons or tongs for your little one to explore.

If you try any of the activities above, please let us know in the comments below.

You can also share on Instagram and Facebook.

Thank you for joining us on our journey as we learn step by step.

Kimberlee