Little Gardeners Grow

Implementation

Begin with a conversation: The teacher asks the children whether they have plants at home or in the garden. What do these plants need to live? How do they “eat” or “drink”? Encourage children to share what they already know about plants and their care.

Discovering Plants

Children and teacher bring several plants into the group room. (Parents may be asked to help and/or donate some plants before the project starts.) Children observe them closely, touch their leaves and stems, and talk about what they notice. Together they name and identify the main parts of a plant (roots, stem, leaves, flowers). Children draw their observations or take photos.

The Plant Experiment

The children help transplant three plants of the same kind into separate pots.

Each pot will be cared for differently:

• Plant 1: Placed in the light and watered regularly.
• Plant 2: Placed in the dark but watered regularly.
• Plant 3: Placed in the light but not watered.

Children draw the three plants and where they are placed.

They make predictions:

• What will happen to the plant in the dark?
• What will happen to the one without water?
• What will happen to the one with both water and light?

Children take turns watering and observing the plants, reflecting on how it feels to care for a living thing.

Observation and Reflection

After several days or weeks, the group observes the three plants again.

• How have they changed?
• Were our predictions correct?
• Why did some plants wilt or stop growing?

Children draw the plants again to record their findings.