The parts of the flower are interesting to share with a child while doing spring planting together, visiting flowers at a nursery, or while on a nature walk. Click here for a free printable of our flower part chart.
Spring. Planting time. Our 2-year-old was gently—as gently as his plumpy still-learning hands can—helping me plant Pansies. A stem of pretty purple petals broke off while we worked in the dirt.
Rather than a throw-away, this single beautiful blossom became our pretty, precious keeper. Placed in a simple glass custard dish, we enjoyed this orphan blossom inside our house as much as the remaining blooms still spreading their roots in the newly planted flower pot outside.
Sometimes a blunder, like our broken blossom, becomes a beautiful blessing if we remember to see it as one. And this lesson was more important than the how-to-plant-a-flower lesson our 2-year-old and I had begun with.
flower activities to share with children
❁ Place them between two pieces of wax paper and press them until dry in the pages of a large, heavy book. Use your pressed flowers to decorate homemade cards or to frame for some pretty wall artwork.
❁ Show a young naturalist (an interested child) the parts of a flower—where the stem, petals, and leaves are (fig. 2 above). For an older child, introduce more parts like the sepal (small leaves under the flower), anther (contains the pollen) and other flower parts (fig. 1 above).
❁ Show a curious little sidekick what the flower looks like under a magnifying glass or microscope.
❁ Some flowers are edible. Flowers such as Pansies, Chrysanthemums, and Violets can be eaten. We enjoy the spicy, peppery punch of Nasturtium blossoms on salads. Their bold colors liven up salad greens. If your orphan blossom is edible (you must carefully check an edible flower chart to be sure it is—not all flowers can be eaten!), you may want to use it to decorate a cake or cupcake too. So pretty.
❁ Flower pots aren't just for flowers in our house. See how we use pots to organize our home—pretty, creative, functional. ©heather cahoon • wordplayhouse®
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