Materials
- Aluminum pie plates
- Large jar lids or small bowls
- Soil
- Wheat berries or grass seed
- Pink tissue paper
- Small branches
- Glue
- Small rocks or crystals
- Water
- Modeling beeswax or plasticene
- Walnut shell halves
- Toothpicks
- White paper scraps
- Scissors
What to do
1. Have the children place the lid or small bowl in their pie plate.
2. Show the children how to add soil to the pie plate, filling in around the lid.
3. Have the children plant wheat berries or grass seed in the soil and show them how to care for it.
4. When the children have finished gardening, ask them to crumple a few scraps of pink tissue paper. Help the children glue the scraps to the tree branch, then place the branch in the garden.
5. Invite the children to add animals they have sculpted and small rocks or crystals.
6. Pour a small amount of water into each lid.
7. Have the children fill a walnut half with beeswax or plasticene. Help them glue a paper sail on to the toothpick and stand a toothpick inside the walnut. Once it is ready, invite the children to sail their boat in the pond.
8. As the grass grows, trim it with scissors as needed.
More to do
- Language: Ask the children what they will do on the first day of spring and record their responses.
- Outdoors: Bring your walnut boats outside after a rainstorm and sail them in puddles.
- Science: Maintain a terrarium or worm garden in the classroom.
-Linda Atamian, Charlestown, RI
