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How long will it take?

The initial activity should take up to an hour. Thereafter, allow 15 to 20 minutes on a regular basis, perhaps fortnightly or every three weeks.

What you will need

Step-by-step guide

1 Ask your children to draw a picture of themselves in the garden, write the date and their address underneath it and stick it on the first page of their scrapbook.

2 They can collect leaves and plants from the garden and put them in their scrapbook. Help them to put sticky-backed plastic over them, and to write their names by them.

3 They can draw pictures of different parts of the garden.

4 Or they can take photographs of the garden. Maybe they could choose one part, and take a picture of it on the first day of each month for a year. Then they can see how much everything changes.

5 Encourage them to keep their scrapbook near a window and draw or write the names of the birds they see coming into the garden over the different seasons.

6 Stick in the seed packets of any seeds they grow. Give them old seed catalogues to cut out pictures of plants they want to grow - or they may like to design their dream flowerbed!

7 They can draw, cut out and label any wildlife they find. They might see frogs, butterflies, hedgehogs, ladybirds, beetles, ants, bees, caterpillars, foxes - the list is endless.

8 Why don't you get them to ask other people in your family, or visitors, to add something to their book?

Tips and advice

If fresh leaves and flowers are used in the scrapbook, tell your children not to choose thick, fleshy samples, as they will rot. Ensure they enclose the sample completely by using a larger piece of plastic than the sample. They can press samples if they wish, but this takes longer - up to six weeks under heavy weights. Some samples can be pressed and dried quickly using a microwave oven.

Do not worry if the results of your children's endeavours don't match up to your expectations. Enjoy their efforts and praise them.

You might be inspired to make your own scrapbook about the garden. Let them see you doing it, as this will add importance and value to their own work.

Remind them to continue recording things in the scrapbook. Don't rely on them remembering.

You might wish to encourage early information and communication technology skills and get the scrapbook going in digital format on the computer.

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The initial activity should take up to an hour. Thereafter, allow 15 to 20 minutes on a regular basis, perhaps fortnightly or every three weeks. 1 Ask your children to draw a picture of themselves in the garden, write the date and their address underneath it and stick it on the first page of their scrapbook.

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Please be aware that resources have been published on the website in the form that they were originally supplied. This means that procedures reflect general practice and standards applicable at the time resources were produced and cannot be assumed to be acceptable today. Website users are fully responsible for ensuring that any activity, including practical work, which they carry out is in accordance with current regulations related to health and safety and that an appropriate risk assessment has been carried out.

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Parts of a Plant and Their Functions *suitable for home teaching*

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Aimed at primary level, this resource introduces children to the structure and function of the parts of a flowering plant. A range of activities are provided which help to familiarise learners with the basic parts of a plant, including growing plants from seed and making models of a plant.

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Teach Life Cycle With Paper Plates and Free Printables

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Sesame Street: Grover Talks About Plants

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Twinkl Go! - What do Plants Need to Grow? Science Shorts Animation Clip

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The Needs of a Plant (song for kids about 5 things plants need to live)

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These word cards are a fantastic way to introduce the key vocabulary needed when teaching the life process of a plant.

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The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle (Read Along Youtube Video) 

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The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle (Read Along Youtube Video) 

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The Tiny Seed – 🌻 A read aloud of Eric Carle's classic book!

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If you're looking for engaging plant life cycle activities for kids, your students will love becoming a botanist for the day! Come on along and watch as my students take a deep dive into the world of plants.

Project based learning activities are some of my favorite things to do in first grade. Imagine walking into class one day and telling your students that they're going to become a botanist for the day. A botanist is a person who studies plants – the way they grow, the differences between them, and everything else that has to do with plant science. In this unit, your students will get a hands on look at this profession as they study plants.

Setting The Stage

To begin this unit, we headed to Epic books online to read the book Botanist by RJ Bailey. This simple, kid friendly book was perfect for introducing the students to the jobs of a botanist.

Next, we worked together in shared writing to make a list of things that a botanist does in his job.

Going On A Plant Field Study

Next, I told the students that they were going to become a botanist for the day. We took a little field trip around our playground and school grounds to search for different kinds of plants. I gave my students all the needed equipment:

a clipboard with field study guide

magnifying glass

small ziplock to gather their specimens

kids sized tweezers

The kids were super excited to head out to search for plants and they took the whole thing very seriously! They were excited to show me all the different parts of plants, different flowers, grasses, etc.

As the students were searching, they worked on their field study guide. They wrote down and drew pictures of some of the different kind of plants that they discovered. They took samples to use later in the classroom.

Dissecting A Plant

Next, we headed back indoors to dissect a plant. For this activity, we needed some kind of flower. You could use cut flowers or pick flowers from your own garden. I don't have a garden and wanted something that would have all the parts, including roots, so I purchased a small potted plant from the store.

I gave each child part of the plant and they used their magnifying glass to study it closely. We found the pollen, leaves, stem, roots and petals. The students used their tweezers to dissect the plant and carefully taped the parts of the plant to this printable diagram. This was a great hands-on plant activity for kids!

Seed Sorting

Next, I told the students that botanists also study seeds. I purchased a few bags of dried beans and sorted them into small plastic cups. Dried beans are very inexpensive and will last forever! This was more than enough beans for our entire first grade (4 classrooms) to sort seeds.

The students sorted their seeds on their sorting mat and then graphed the results on this simple bar graph.

Planting Bean Seeds

Plant activities for kids must include some kind of planting! Next it was time for the students to plant some seeds and report on their growth. We chose to plant beans because they are a quick growing plant that's easy to take care of in the classroom. The students decorated a cup and planted their own bean seed. Then they created a plant observation flip book. Every few days the students made an observation and recorded their findings in the book and they made a cute plant craft.

Plant Research

Finally it was time for my little botanists to tell me everything they had learned about plants. They each chose a different plant to research and write about. I found a bunch of kid friendly books on a variety of different plants on Epic Books. The students chose a book to read and then they completed this graphic organizer with some of the information they learned.

The students finished up this unit by writing a report about their plant. They included the plant life cycle, the parts of the plant, where the plant lives and some interesting facts.

If you're looking for a way to get your kids excited about their learning, there's nothing better than hands-on project based units. My students were engaged and learning from start to finish! Ready to have your students become a botanist for the day? Head over here to take a closer look at these plant activities for kids that include google slides, printable worksheets, plant life cycle activities, diagrams, craft and more!

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The Best Plant Life Cycle Activities For Kids In 2021

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These hands on plant activities for kids will get students excited to learn about the life cycle of a plant as they sort seeds, sprout and dissect plants.

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With the pots on a nice warm windowsill, it won't be long before you see the seedlings coming through.

Once the risk of frost has passed outside, you simply need to plant them where they are going to flower. Then it is time to watch the magic!

Growing sunflowers in the ground

Growing sunflowers in the ground is equally as easy as in pots. Some gardeners favour this way over growing them in pots but then you lose out on growing them indoors with the children whilst the weather is still cooler outside.

You will want to sow your sunflower seeds when the soil has warmed up and the risk of frost has passed. This is going to be around mid April to May - although there can be late frosts even then.

Sow the seeds around 2cm deep into the soil leaving approximately 15cm in between each plant. You can sow more seeds than that but you will need to thin them when the plants are around 15cm high. This will ensure that they have enough space to grow.

Keep the seedlings well watered until they are established and provide support for the plants. You may want to consider netting when sowing directly into the ground as birds or squirrels may take the seeds as a tasty snack!

Growing and caring for Sunflowers

Where do sunflowers like to grow?

Sunflowers like to grow in a position that gets full sun. They are not too fussy on the soil type either. One thing that you should be careful of is that the soil is not waterlogged. However, with sunflowers being a plant that grows in the summer, this is not that likely.

Sunflowers, when established, can tolerate short periods of drought. However, to maintain good healthy plants, you are going to want to keep them watered.

How often should I water my sunflowers?

Sunflowers, will require regular watering if the weather is dry. Generally, for established plants a deep watering once a week will suffice. If you are experiencing heat wave, it is best to increase the frequency. When growing the sunflowers for seeds, make sure that they are watered slightly more 2 weeks prior to flowering.

If your garden has quick draining soil in it, ensure that you work compost into the ground in the area that the sunflowers will be growing. This will help with moisture retention.

How easy is it to grow sunflowers?

Easy. Sometimes it can be tricky to get the plants established but once they are in the ground growing and supported, the plant will look after itself if it is kept watered.

Some different types of sunflowers that you can grow

Russian Giant

Height: Up to 3 Metres

This variety of sunflower really does live up to its name. Grown in the right conditions, you will have a plant that is 3M tall and flowers that are up to 30cm in diameter. This sunflower will get any child excited about growing in the garden.

Buy yours now from Amazon or Thompson & Morgan

Teddy Bear Sunflowers

Height: 45cm

These sunflowers are just lovely. You wouldn't actually know that they are sunflowers if you hadn't come across them before. They look great in borders and in containers.

Buy yours now from Amazon or Thompson & Morgan

Sunflower ' Earth Walker'

Height: Up to 270cm

These sunflowers will reach heights of between 6 to 9 ft, making them ideal for children. Rather than the traditional yellow colour, these will produce multiple heads off one plant in a bronze/orange colour. Perhaps something to give a go this year?

Buy yours now from Thompson & Morgan

Sunflower 'Elite Sun' F1 Hybrid

Height: Up to 120cm

If you are short on space in the garden, this sunflower could be the one for you. It has a very large head on it but will only grow approximately 4ft high. Great for beds and borders but can also be grown in containers.

Buy yours now from Thompson & Morgan

Sunflower 'Van Gogh'

Height: 150cm

The iconic Van Gogh sunflower. A great medium sized sunflower that will produce many flowers. They are an absolute favourite for the birds and the bees that come into the garden. Children will certainly not be disappointed when growing these in the garden.

Buy yours now from Thompson & Morgan

How can children get involved in growing sunflowers?

Sunflowers really are a great plant for children to grow. The rate of growth along with the wow factor when the flowers come out is just somewhat magical. It is great to have a couple of varieties growing in the garden; a few giant sunflowers (great for a competition) and also some multi flowering varieties for cut flowers and appearance.

Sowing the seeds

Oh the fun of sowing the seeds. What's great about sowing sunflowers is the size of the seeds. They are very suitable (with adult supervision) for younger children to plant sunflower seeds. Also, because you can literally take a seeds and then poke it into the soil, it's a great starting plant as you don't need to know the technical information about gardening.

Harvesting

It's always a sad moment when the sunflowers finish for the year. However, for the bird lovers amongst you, the seeds from the sunflower plant can be used for bird feed. You will need quite a few of these but if you have the space it is a great autumn activity too.

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How to Grow Sunflowers - Kids Do Gardening

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With the pots on a nice warm windowsill, it won't be long before you see the seedlings coming through. Once the risk of frost has passed outside, you simply need to plant them where they are going to flower. Then it is time to watch the magic!