Parts of a Plant

The caterpillars were eager to sit down for morning circle and begin our day! First, we sang a good morning song and the camp theme song, "I Am Special". We introduced the song of the day, "Plant Parts". Miss Hillary displayed a diagram of a big sunflower. The children took turns correctly labeling the parts of a flower and discussed each function. We were able to inspect a real plant and point out all the parts.

After morning circle, the campers marched to the song "The Ants Go Marching" as we ventured outside. They engaged in imaginary play in the little house and on the car. They even took food orders and served the teachers pretend ice cream through the windows on the house - which we paid for in wood chips! Many of the caterpillars independently introduced themselves to kiddos from another classrooms, too. 

 

After the caterpillars returned inside, Miss Hillary read the book What's This by Caroline Mockford. The story was about a bird, a girl, and a cat who found a seed. They planted the seed in a garden to see what would happen. It turned into a big sunflower! Once winter came the flower drooped and the three friends use the seeds to plant new sunflowers in pots at school. 

 

During centers today, the children explored the sensory table by adding water to the sand while pretending to plant seeds.  They enjoyed using the construction trucks to move blocks and make room to plant a garden.

 During science we discussed how seeds just don’t make flowers, but help grow fruits and vegetables, too!  Using a chart, the caterpillars predicted the location (inside/outside) and quantity (one/many) of the seeds for five different foods - apple, orange, strawberry, cucumber, and mango. They took turns choosing from a pile of seeds. The kids either taped the seeds to the outside or slipped them in the pocket of paper representations of each food to illustrate where the seeds are found. 

Next, the kids taped the food to either the "one" or "many" side of the chart, based on the children's predictions. 

Finally, the caterpillar's observed Miss Hillary cut open each fruit/vegetable to look at the seeds inside. We changed our chart to include the correct type, color, and amount of seeds. 

During art, the children made their own sunflowers! 

First, they traced their name along dotted lines on the outside of a folded paper. After opening their paper, the caterpillars rearranged the parts of the plant using the diagram from language circle as a model.

After pasting the pieces down, they drew roots with a brown crayon and glued real sunflower seeds on the heads of the plants!

 

  While eating lunch, the children looked at pictures of four different types of flowers - lily pads, sunflowers, roses, and dandelions. They helped Miss Hillary fill in similarities and differences on a thinking chart.

 During closing circle we sang “I am special” and the "Good-bye Song". While parents arrived, the children took turns choosing between two songs using a visual aid. Their favorite song was "Going on a Bear Hunt" by Dr. Jean. The campers pointed to places on a map, which guided them through a candy factory, peanut butter river, and jell-o swap to find the bear in the cave!