This story follows the adventure of a tiny seed as it travels with the wind and finally finds a place to settle and grow, and grow, and grow!

Materials

            Tissue paper

            Seed cycle and flower parts

            5 little seeds flannel pieces

            Flower shape from blocks to make a flower

Dried bean seeds and zip lock baggie

Vocabulary

            Autumn (fall time)

            Burst open (to split or break open)

            Bud ( a flower that is ready to open)

Before Reading the Story

            Tell the children that when you were coming to school today you noticed a beautiful flower or tree.  Say you were wondering how it grew?  Let the children give their responses if they have any.  Now tell the children that you found a book that explains how seeds grow.  Introduce the book.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Reading the Story

            Point out the seed that meets its demise on each page as well as the path of the tiny seed.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

After Reading the Story

            Tell the children that you are going to pretend to be seeds and do the movement activity, How a Seed Grows.

  Help the children to act out How a Seed Grows, this is an adaptation of a story written by Helen Jordon.  Pretend that you are a tiny seed.  It is the fall time and you are on a beautiful flower.  Now the wind begins to blow and you pop off and are carried away with the wind.  You whirl and twirl and then land with a plop on the ground.  The rains come and you are pushed ever so slightly into the ground.  Now it is winter and all around you it is cold and the ground is frozen.  You don’t notice because you are all curled up sound asleep.  Soon the cold winter starts to melt away to spring time.  The sun begins to shine and the winds begin to blow gently.  The ground begins to get softer and you can move a tiny bit.  You begin to wake from your sleep and you slowly, slowly begin to stretch down a tiny root deep into the ground.  Every day you grow longer and stronger.  Soon you are strong enough to push your stem right out of the ground.  You grow up straight and proud.  In time you grow a leaf, and then another and another.  You are no longer a seed but you are a small plant!  When it rains you are happy because you need rain to make you grow.  When the sun shines you are happy because you need sunshine to make you grow.  Every day you grow a little bit bigger and a little bit stronger until you finally open up into a beautiful flower.  The bees and butterflies come to visit you and land right on your face with their tickly legs and feet.  Some of your pollen gets stuck on their furry legs and wings.  In a couple of weeks you will begin to get weaker.  Your petals will get droopy and soon fall to the ground.  You begin to wilt and slowly, slowly begin to sink back down to the earth.  One day the wind blows and your seeds blow off into the wind.  You continue to sink back down to the earth and you are a spent plant.  You will not grow again till next spring.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions. AND Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety if dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Discovery

            Put a bean seed in a ziplock baggie with a moistened paper towel.  Observe it over several days. As the stem begins to grow the children can measure it with a ruler. You can also have the children draw each day to document the seeds growth.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

            Put out books and pictures that show how seeds grow.  If you have the funds, grow seeds!

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest in reading-related activities, such as asking to have a favorite book read; choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories; asking to take books home; going to the library; and engaging in pretend reading with peers.

Music and Movement

            Act out the poem A Little Plant, author unknown.  Have the children sit on the floor and bend over their legs with their head towards the floor.

In the heart of a seed,

Buried down so deep, A little plant

Lay fast asleep.

“Awake” said the sun,

“Come up from the earth”

“Awake” said the rain,

“We’re giving you birth”

The little plant heard

And with a happy sigh,

Pointed its petals

Up to the sky.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions. AND Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety if dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Do this flannel with the children.  They can use their fingers to count along.

                                    5 little seeds planted in a row

                                    Water them well and watch them grow!

                                    1 little plant, so small and green

                                    2 little plants can now be seen!

                                    3 little plants with leaves so small

                                    4 little plants are getting tall

                                    5 little plants have buds of red

                                    I planted a beautiful flowerbed!

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increasing ability to count to 10 and beyond.

Blocks

            On a large piece of paper trace around block shapes to make a simple flower like design.  Put it on the floor and let the children cover it with the correct block shapes.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to be able to determine whether or not two shapes are the same size and shape.

Art

            Make tissue paper flowers.  On a piece of white construction paper draw a circle (this will be the flowers center) cut out many petal shapes from the tissue paper and also leaf shapes.  Mix glue with a little water and put it into a bowl with a paint brush.  The children can use the paint brush to spread the glue onto the paper.  Let the children add petals and leaves to their flower.  Show the children that if they over lap the tissue paper it will make another color.

Creative Arts/Art; progress in abilities to create drawings, paintings, models, and other creations that are more detailed, creative, or realistic. AND Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Library and Writing

            Let the children play with the 5 Little Flowers flannel. 

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

Sand and Water

            Put dirt or sand in the table with small shovels or spoons so the children can dig holes.  They can pretend to be planting a garden. (We did this putting dirt into the table. On Friday afternoon I covered the table and when we came back on Monday morning, the bean seeds we had been playing with in the table had sprouted! A fun and unexpected surprise).

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety if dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Dramatic Play

            As the children play, encourage them to sort the plastic foods by those that have seeds and those that do not.  Bring in real fruits and vegetables if you can so that the children can cut them apart and look at real seeds.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put in a series, and group objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size.

Math and Manipulatives

            Make copies of the seed cycle and also the flower parts.  Color and cover with contact paper.  Let the children use these like puzzle.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; progresses in ability to put together and take shapes apart. AND Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

Outdoor Play

            Go for a nature walk and look for seeds (grass, trees).  Remember that acorns are seeds as are parts of the pinecone.  

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks and activities.

Transitions

            The children can pretend to be blown all whirly and twirly by the wind to their next activity.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Resources