Learning about plants
| December 2, 2012 | Posted by Mabel under Playtime Learning |
While dropping Eva off at school, I noticed that the 4 year olds are planting hyacinth bulbs as one of their classroom activities. It seemed like an interesting idea to explore and something that could still remain interesting after a few days or weeks.
I had thought of getting a science-based project for her to start off on the science aspect of our homeschooling curriculum and a fighting fish came to mind. After doing some research and scouting around, I decided against it as it was just too costly (the tank, fish, decorations, heater) and too much work (water change every week, etc). Then I saw some bulbs of Hyacinth (above) and Amaryllis (below) on sale – it is common to buy bulbs to give to folks around this time of the year as gifts. They were much cheaper, easier to care for – since I have an Amaryllis at home already – and the learning objects would still be the same.
I allowed Eva to choose the colours she wanted and she settled on pink & purple. The two plants now sit on top of the fireplace in the playroom. Earlier today, I spent a few minutes explaining how plants grow and getting her to water them. I don’t really have a hard and fast rule for teaching this to her. It’s more of exposing her to plant care, growth and biology in a fun way. I’ll also be capturing the progress of the plant’s growth in pictures so that we can sit down and look back at how the plants have grown over a few days. I reckon it would make for an interesting discussion.
Sounds like a good learning project Mabel!