Many of us who love gardening are grateful for parents, grandparents, teachers, and mentors who helped us appreciate the wonders of nature from an early age. With that in mind, the Garden Shed will publish ideas and activities on a quarterly basis to encourage children’s awareness of plants and their surroundings. By “sowing these seeds,” we may inspire children to embrace horticulture in their adult lives. This article offers tips to get started. Look for more suggestions in June, September, and December.
Feel free to adapt or embellish the activities when planning for your own use. These are not “prescriptions,” so implement them appropriately with children in your care. If the realm of preschool or elementary education is new to you, keep these principles in mind:
- Immerse yourself in the experience with children to support focused attention.
- Set an example and share your own enthusiasm for nature; avoid trying to “preach or teach.”
- Notice, listen carefully, and remain keenly aware of children’s thoughts, feelings, and ways of communicating.
- Create sensory experiences. Have children use one or more of their senses to explore or investigate plants and plant relationships.
- Be true to science, including terms that expand children’s vocabulary and knowledge.
- Make the interaction playful, memorable, and fun.
Activity: Take a Closer Look (ages 3-7 years)
In science, “observation” means all five senses (not just sight). In this activity, children use simple tools to look closely at plants and their environment.
Materials: two empty cardboard tubes, one from toilet paper, one from paper towels
Process:
- Go outdoors (if possible). Look around and ask children what they see.
- Prompt observations with questions:
- What colors do you see? What shapes do you see?
- What big things do you see? What small things do you see?
- What do you want to learn more about?
- Help child hold one hand over one eye, so s/he is using only one eye to observe.
- How is this view different?
- Why did your view change?
- Hold up empty toilet paper tube. Show child how to look through the tube with just one eye (keep other hand over opposite eye). Ask child to share how this changes the view.
- What do you see now?
- How is this view different from looking with both eyes without a tube?
- Move closer to a tree or plant. Have child look with both eyes and describe what s/he sees. Encourage child to focus on that one plant. Ask questions to encourage child to be specific about what s/he notices.
- Show child how to find a particular area on that plant (e.g., leaf); use toilet paper tube to look closely at that area. Ask, “What do you notice about this area?” If necessary, prompt child by sharing details that you notice (e.g., I see smooth edges on that leaf).
- Repeat the observation process with paper towel tube (longer). Ask child to talk about what’s different with this view. (e.g., Restricted/smaller view is more focused.).
Keep these observation tools handy; children might surprise you by using them without prompting. They may also appreciate other tools for observation, such as binoculars. Show children how to be careful observers and how to communicate what they notice to stimulate their curiosity about the wonderful world of plants.
Print References
Cornell, Joseph Cornell. (1979). Sharing Nature with Children. Amanda Publications.
Curtis, Deb. (2017). Really Seeing Children. Dimensions Educational Research Foundation.
Sisson, Edith. (1982). Nature with Children of All Ages. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.