A simple introduction to plant biology for kids, plus more garden-themed learning activities that pair beautifully with picture books listed in the post.
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Plant Biology for Kids
I am a huge fan of teaching plant biology for kids – they have a natural fascination about the world around them, and they remember scientific terms easily. Spring is a great time to start gardening with kids, and you don’t have to wait for spring temperatures to get started!
Plant biology is also an activity that pairs well with this week’s Virtual Book Club for Kids theme: Garden. The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle is this week’s featured book. The Curious Garden is another wonderful picture book for this theme.
An Introduction to Photosynthesis
Having live plants in your home is a wonderful way to teach kids about the importance plants attach to sunlight. You can use a seedling to show how plants follow the sun, or larger plants like these bean plants! If you look at the photo, you will see that the plant’s leaves are turned so that they can absorb as much sunlight as possible. Turn the planting box, and the leaves will turn again to follow the sun! Chlorophyll is a pigment that makes the leaves green – and it absorbs the sunlight, which it needs for photosynthesis!
A very basic explanation of photosynthesis is that the plant takes the sunlight that it has absorbed through its leaves along with carbon dioxide it gets from the air and water that it gets though its roots. It combines these ingredients to create the sugar that the plant needs to grow. You can use any plant in any container to teach this lesson, but thinner, see-through planters like the one above are cool because you can see root systems so well. A zip lock bag also works – there is no need to get fancy, but this was a birthday gift that Emma really enjoyed last year.
You can also plant seeds in a jar, or even a simple Ziploc bag.
Plant Biology Books to Read
Would you like to extend the learning even further? Here are some great books that I recommend to go along with this activity:
- Life Science for Visual Learners by Vidya Sudarsan and Sarah Jane Edward-Sebeni
- Roots by Vijaya Khisty Bodach
- Seed to Plant by Kristin Baird Rattini
- How a Seed Grows by Helene J. Jordan
- From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
Do you know of other books that I should add to my list?
More Garden Themed Learning Activities for Kids
Here are some more great garden themed learning activities for kids:
- Gardening Fun for Kids
- Alphabet Upper and Lowercase Matching with Beginning Sounds Flower Pot
- Number Activities with Printable Flowers and Worms
- A Fun Way for Kids to Plan a Garden (Free Printable)
- Rainbow Spin Art Flowers
- Plants and Sunlight Science Experiment
- Planting an Organic Garden with Kids
- Tomato Plant Fairy Village
- Planting Tomatoes
- The Seeds We Eat – Nature Science
- Garden Flower Ten Frame
- Garden Pretend Play and Fine Motor Activity
- Flower Garden Name Puzzle
- Plant & Seed Matching Game
- Observing Seed Germination in a Plastic Bag
- Growing a Seed Storytime
- Colorful Ribbon Flower Craft for Kids
THE 2016-17 VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB FOR KIDS
Click on the image above to see all of the themes, books, and activities for this year’s 2016-17 Virtual Book Club for Kids! I am updating the page as new posts go live.
Do you have a garden-themed picture book we should read? How about a plant biology experiment for the kids, or another garden-themed activity? Please share any ideas you have on my Facebook page, or tag me on Instagram.
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