Last week we talked about what plants need to grow and what a seed needs to germinate. This week we have been able to see the fruits of our labor as our seeds have fully germinated and began sprouting. Monday morning as they arrived to see the micro greens fully sprouted the children were overjoyed. In addition to that our our tomato, cucumber, and pepper seeds we planted last week had sprouted as well! As a class, we began to make the connection and see the seeds we started sprout over the weekend and peak out from the soil. We continued our conversation of what is the best environment for our seeds to grow. At the beginning of our week we started our ‘bean in a bag’ experiment. We placed our green bean seeds in separate bags with a wet paper towel and discussed as a class where our bean seeds might do well and where it might not. As a class we decided to place one bag in the cabinet where it would receive no light and one on the window where it would receive a lot of light. We will observe over the next week to see which seed germinates faster.
To integrate our plant theme full circle, the sensory table was filled with freshly cut lilacs, water, and some lavender essential oil. The children enjoyed soaking their hands while they played and interacted with the materials in the sensory table.
As we continue to carry-out our seed experiments each child had the opportunity to paint their own planter pot, plant Zinnia seeds, and bring home to their families for Mother's Day!
In other exciting news: We invited Zan, Leon’s mom for an activity in the Makers space! Zan is in the process of completing a course on Global Food Systems. As part of Zan’s class she offered to come in to talk about where food comes from and center the conversation around a baking activity. Zan brought in the materials to make pop-overs with the class. As we made the popovers; Zan talked about where each ingredient comes from, where the ingredient appears in its raw form, and how it is processed. The ingredients for the pop-overs were sunflower oil, eggs from Leon's family farm, organic lactose free milk, salt, and flour. Once the pop-overs were done, we enjoyed our pop-overs outside on the playground where Zan talked about mindful eating. As we ate our snack we explored the taste, the smell, and texture, and how the baked good made us feel as we ate it. Lastly, today we cut our micro greens and placed them in individual containers to bring home to their families! Enjoy!
