This post includes affiliate links.
Spring FINALLY arrived where we live this week. The kiddos can't get enough of it. For over a month they've been talking about planting a vegetable garden, adding flowers to our flower garden, and more. It's the perfect time of year to map out garden plans, especially with Earth Day just around the corner. I don't know about you, but Earth Day is one of my favorite holidays. The Earth is such a beautiful place to live. It's so wonderful to have a special day to celebrate it. Whether you have a little one who's just learning what the Earth is, or kiddos who are capable of learning more, I hope you take the opportunity to celebrate such a special day!
If you're looking for some fabulous Earth Day Play Ideas & Activities, look no further!
Earth Day Sensory Play with Shaving Cream from Golden Reflections Blog
Layers of the Earth (Free Printable) from The Pinay Homeschooler
Montessori Continent Boxes from Study at Home Mama
Earth Day with a Hugg A Planet Earth from Child Led Life
Sensory Play for Earth Day from Mama's Happy Hive
Creation Sky and Water Hands-On Learning Activities from Christian Montessori Network
This year we're celebrating Earth Day by dedicating time to planning and preparing for our vegetable garden. Activities are taking place in and outside of the classroom.
We kicked off the week with a family night dedicated to teaching our kiddos the importance of having a garden. I was thrilled to teach them a new song from our Children's Songbook, called "The Prophet Said to Plant Garden." They all loved the new song. Next we watched a short video that explained how everyone can have a garden, and why it's so important. Finally we visited a local store that sells seeds. Each kiddo picked out a vegetable they'd like to plant this year.
I don't think I've ever seen a set of kiddos so excited to plant a garden. Every day they come up with new questions and concerns for me to find answers to. Some of the activities in this unit are a result of some of those questions.
Picture & Sentence Match Up
Dinomite & Princess are amazing readers. Within the last three months Bulldozer has made great strides in his reading efforts. In this activity the kiddos will match up pictures to their corresponding sentences.
Source: I created this printable as part of my Vegetable Garden Unit Printable pack 1. For your free copy, click at the bottom of this post!
Garden Tool Nomenclature Cards
Part of gardening is learning about and using some pretty neat tools. The kiddos have seen me garden, but other than planting their very own rose bush, they've never participated in the planting process. In the case of the rose bushes, I had already dug the hole.
In preparation for this unit, I ordered kid sized gardening tools and accessories just for the kiddos. When they arrived I took a picture of each one to make these cards. The kiddos LOVE these cards and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their new gardening tools. I couldn't be more satisfied with my purchase. The tools are great quality and will be used for quite some time. If you'd like to purchase your own, I've included the amazon links below.
Source: I created the printable for this activity as part of my Vegetable Garden Unit Printable Pack 1. For your free copy, click on the link at the bottom of this post.
Measuring Out Seeds
Part of gardening is planting seeds. The kiddos have never done this before. In this activity they will be introduced to the directions on the back of the seed packages. Once they have read the directions, they will flatten out the play dough (using their hands). Next they will mark the recommended distance between seeds, place holes in the play dough (using their fingers). Then they will place the correct number of seeds in each hole. It will be a great measurement and skip counting activity!
Vegetable & Plant Match Up
Princess has been asking a TON of questions about gardens, plants, fruits, and vegetables. Her most popular question seems to be what type of plant each fruit and vegetable comes from. This activity was designed for her. The kiddos will match up vegetables to their corresponding plants. I'm pretty sure Dinomite and Bulldozer will turn this activity into a memory game. No matter how they choose to complete the activity, they'll learn what each of the vegetable plants look like and learn to identify A LOT of different kinds of vegetables.
Source: I created this printable as part of my Vegetable Garden Printable Pack 1. For your free printable, click on the link at the bottom of the post.
Planting Tomato Seeds
The kiddos are super eager to start planting now. Unfortunately our outdoor growing season does not start until the end of May. So, instead of purchasing tomato plants at that time, I thought we'd try to grow our own from seeds. They should be ready to plant outdoors when it's time. The kiddos will scoop the dirt out of the bowl and place it in the "pot." They will add their seeds, cover them, and add water.
Outdoor Exploration & Discovery
A major part of our vegetable garden unit this week is spending time outdoors, cleaning up our lawn, and getting it ready for a garden. The kiddos love using their new tools and exploring as they work. Dinomite was so proud to find all of the parts of a plant in tact and identified them all accurately. Bulldozer loved raking leaves into a pile to jump in. (Snow came before we were able to do our fall raking.) Both boys loved digging holes with their new tools and found a few fun worms they loved studying and observing. This already has been and will continue to be quite a fun unit!
If you're looking for more Earth Day activity ideas, be sure to visit my other Earth Day post!
The Earth: Creation
The Earth: Pollution
The Earth: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
The Earth: Endangered Species & Habitats
For your free copy of the free printables, click on the link below!
Vegetable Garden Unit Printable Pack 1 by Renae at Every Star Is Different
Welcome to the Learn & Play Linky Party!
I am so excited to be a hostess of this brand new linky party featuring play activities and hands-on educational activities for kids. There are so many fabulous posts out there I can't wait to read and share with others. Post topics can include:
Montessori Education
Homeschool
Sensory Play
Tot and Preschool Trays
Fine and Gross Motor Activities
Kids in the Kitchen
Healthy Recipes for Kids
Arts and Crafts
Natural Living
Free Educational Printables
Family-Oriented Activities
Healthy Living
Features will be selected every other week by each hostess!
Christian Montessori Blog ~ Please visit our CMN FB group!
Vanessa from Mama’s Happy Hive~FB~Pinterest~Instagram~Twitter
Jennifer from Study at Home Mama~FB~Pinterest~Instagram~Twitter
Marie from Child Led Life~FB~Pinterest~Instagram~Twitter
Jae from Pinay Homeschooler~FB~Pinterest~Instagram~Twitter
Heather from Golden Reflections Blog~FB~Pinterest~Instagram~Twitter
Renae from Every Star is Different~FB~Pinterest
Here's how this works!
1. Link up 1-3 posts.
2. Follow each hostess on social media.
3. Add our button or text link to the bottom of your shared posts. (You will not be featured without a button or text link.)
4. When sharing a post, you give us permission to use one of your images to feature your post on one or more of our blogs. (Proper credit & links will ALWAYS be shared with our readers.)
5. Visit 3 shared posts and leave a comment.
I can't wait to read all of your favorite posts! Please accept my invitation to follow Every Star Is Different on Pinterest if you'd like to keep up to date on all of my latest posts.
Follow Every Star Is Different's board Every Star Is Different on Pinterest.
An InLinkz Link-up