Letter Jj:
- Jj words: jaguar, jellybeans, jacket, jack o lantern, juice
- Jjwriting
Books:
- Yucky Worms by Vivian French
- My Garden by Kevin Henkes
- Oliver’s Vegetables by Vivian French
- Outside Your Window by Nicola Davies
- The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
- Plant A Little Seed by Bonnie Christensen
Song/Feltboard:
The Gardener Plants the Seeds
(tune: The Farmer in the Dell)
The gardener plants the seeds.
The gardener plants the seeds
Hi ho the derry oh,
The gardener plants the seeds
Second Verse: The rain falls on the ground
Third Verse: The sun shines bright and warm
Fourth Verse: The seeds begin to grow
Fifth Verse: Flowers grow everywhere
Feltboard:
5 Little Seeds
5 Little seeds in the deep, dark ground,
sleeping and waiting, not making a sound.
Along came an ant, across the garden floor,
He carried off one seed, and then there were four.
4 Little seeds in the deep, dark ground,
sleeping and waiting, not making a sound.
Down came a birdie, out of the tree,
He ate up one seed and then there were three.
3 Little seeds in the deep dark ground,
sleeping and waiting, not making a sound.
Out snuck a cat, as cats often do,
He dug up one seed, and then there were two.
2 Little seeds in the deep dark ground,
sleeping and waiting, not making a sound.
Along came a puppy, out having fun,
They ran through the planted seeds, and then there was one.
1 little seed in the deep dark ground,
sleeping and waiting, not making a sound.
Down came the rain, and warm was the sun,
They woke up the little seed, his sprouting had begun!
Monday:
Introduce theme:
- Read a book about gardens/gardening/plant life cycle.
- What does a flower start out as? A SEED! Show different flower/veggie/fruit seeds. Let your child touch and hold them to experience their size and texture. Explain to him that just like flowers are all different so are their seeds.
- Show your child pictures of a flower in different stages of growth. Discuss the things flowers need to grow. (water, soil, and sunshine)
Planting Seeds
Materials: small flower pot, potting soil, flower seeds (vegetable/herb seeds etc), child size gardening gloves, child trowel. Optional: Miracle Grow Mini Greenhouse
- Read The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
- Discuss with your child what happened and the process of planting a seed and growing a flower. Ask your child if they would like to plant a seed.
- Come up with a list of things that you need to use for planting your flower. Gather those items together with your child.
- Together plant your seeds. Discuss what happens next (what your seed needs to grow, watching it grow, put in the sun etc)
- Daily – sprits with misting water bottle to keep seeds and soil damp
Flower-Vegetable-Fruit Sorting
Materials: various veggie, fruit and flower seed packets OR computer printed pictures, three large circle construction paper cut-outs
- Ask your child to help you sort the seed packets. Explain that some are vegetables, some are fruits and some are flowers and they’re all mixed up.
- Sort the seed packets onto the different construction paper circles
Tuesday:
SpringGarden Sensory Bucket
Materials: dried black beans, green lentils, pinto beans, river rocks, small terra cotta flower pots, tongs, measuring cups, gardening gloves, trowels, rakes etc.
Sunflower Fridge Magnet Art Project
Materials: small paper plate, yellow paint, large craft stick, sunflower seeds, glue, paintbrush, magnet strips (make one sunflower or several and give as gifts for Easter)
- Ahead of time, cut the paper plate so it looks like a sunflower.
- Have your child paint the paper plate yellow and the craft stick green, allow to dry.
- Have your child glue sunflower seeds onto the center of the paper plate.
- Once the glue is dry, help your child to tape or glue the craft stick to the back of the flower, attach a magnet strip
Image below is to give a general idea of the finished product:
Wednesday:
Worms in the Dirt Afternoon Snack
Materials: chocolate pudding, oreos, gummy worms, mint
- Before nap make the chocolate pudding with your child, allow to set up during nap.
- After nap, crush the oreos in a plastic ziplock bag with your child using a rolling pin
- Put together your snack together. Add a sprig of mint
Carrots for the Rabbit Play-Doh
Materials: orange play-doh, ‘carrots for the rabbit’ play-doh mat, page protector
- Print the ‘carrots for the rabbit’ play-doh mat: http://www.prekinders.com/2011/04/carrots-rabbit-play-dough-mats/ and put inside a page protector.
- Encourage your child to create carrot shapes and ‘plant them below the grass in the dirt. You can also make flowers etc…
Thursday:
Parts of a plant
Materials: Materials will vary – You can make this as a feltboard activity, table activity, or attach magnets for a fridge activity.
- Create four separate parts of a flower for you and your child to discuss and construct together again and again:
- Flower (produces seeds to grow more flowers)
- stem with leaf (leaf absorbs sunlight)
- stem (transports water and nutrients to flower)
- roots (absorb water from the soil)
Flower Bouquet
Materials: various colors of tissue paper, flesh colored construction paper, green construction paper, glue
- Have your child tear up some tissue paper
- With your child, trace their hand and part of their wrist/arm and cut out of flesh colored construction paper.
- With your child cut out strips of green construction paper for flower stems (a leaf or two if you want as well)
- Have your child glue the stems and hand on the paper so it looks like the hand is holding a bouquet.
- Have your child glue the tissue paper on the tops of the stems for the blooms.
Friday Fun-day!
Go on a special outing, have a special lunch, stay in jammies all day. Offer several suggestions and let your child choose and run the show for the day!
Extra/Alternative Activities:
Flower Prints
Materials: paint, construction paper, paint, paint palette, scissors, paper towel/toilet paper tubes
- Cut the ends of the paper tubes and fold back to create a stamp. Make them different sizes and shapes to create different looking flowers. Add green stems, leaves and center
- With the contact paper sticky side up have your child stick on the tissue paper filling in the rainbow and clouds
- When they’re finished use another piece of contact paper sandwiching the tissue in-between
- Display on window
For the Littles:
Make a handprint bouquet
Anything for an m&m 
