Preschool Ideas for Teaching Plants (& Sprouting Seeds)

Every year, I teach the little preschoolers about plants. I draw from my days teaching elementary school, but simplify it for the little ones.
I try not to do the same things every year. Here are a few things  we did this year:

 We did this little craft, and song. The song (below) was pasted on the back of the above craft. (sorry the poem/song is blurry-but you should still be able to read it.)

 Sprouting seeds is my favorite activity, and we do this one every year. Last year we sprouted beans and pumpkin seeds. We planted them afterwards (see below) and we actually got pumpkins and beans from both of them!

 The children are fascinated by this! They love to see what happens to the seeds. We check them a few times a long the way, but after about a week this is what it looked like:

 The seeds we wrapped in a moist paper towel, now have stems, leaves, and roots! It is really fun to see what happens when you water a seed. My kids planted theirs in cans in the backyard. We have been watering them, and giving them what a plant needs and they are growing well.

We also read the book Muncha, Muncha, Muncha, and Tops and Bottoms. Both are fun stories for teaching young children a little about plants.

Thanks for reading! Happy Spring- or early summer- if you live in the Southwest!