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EARLY CHILDHOOD NEWSLETTER

Volume 2 Issue 4
May 2004


THIS MONTH'S EARLY CHILDHOOD NEWSLETTER THEME:

Using the five senses to learn about... May Flowers!

WELCOME! to Education World's Early Childhood Newsletter. Each month, I'll share some ideas on a familiar teaching theme. Hopefully you will find a new activity idea or two -- or a new twist on one of your old favorites! Since I know you are very busy, I'll be short and sweet -- like most of activities I suggest.

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The Early Childhood Education Newsletter is brought to you by The Center for Educational Outreach & Innovation.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN THIS SUMMER?
Bring the world to your classroom! The best teachers never stop learning about the world around them.

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A WORD ABOUT THIS MONTH'S THEME

It's May -- and now it's really, REALLY spring. This newsletter will use all those gorgeous flowers peeking up from the ground as the basis for activities incorporating the "5 senses." As you revel in the beauty of the flowers you see around you, revel also in the growth you have seen in the children you teach. They are beautiful flowers too!

M is for May... and for maypoles and mothers and Memorial Day. Celebrate!

Anne Guignon
Editor, Early Childhood Education Newsletter

Coming Next Month: Jump into June



ACTIVITY IDEAS

* NOTE TO TEACHERS: Before working with flowers or other natural items, be sure to recheck information about student allergies and adjust activities accordingly. Make sure you know about the plants you offer, and adapt the activities to the ages of your students.

FLOWERING SENSES!
-- Display a bouquet of real flowers. (You may want to do this several times, with a variety of flowers, colors, and scents.)
-- Spend time encouraging children to DESCRIBE the flowers -- their colors, shapes, smells, and textures -- and the other parts of the plant. (Describe the leaves, stem, and so on.) Encourage them to name the parts of the flowers and enlarge their vocabularies by providing appropriate scientific terms.
-- List the descriptive words children choose and sort those words by the senses used - touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste (but don't encourage tasting!).
-- Make a category for *taste*, but brainstorm edible items with the same color, scent, and other characteristics of the flowers.
-- Share famous artwork of flowers: photographs, paintings, and more. Paintings are appreciated through vision. Introduce carvings and sculptures children can experience through touch, too.
-- Provide abundant materials for children to make their own flowers: colored tissue paper, construction paper, paint, crayons, chalk or colored markers. Some children may try to copy your real bouquet, but most will be inspired to create previously unheard of flowers. Provide "garden space" on bulletin boards for displaying the creations.

PRESS FLOWERS
Help children learn about pressing flowers to use in craft projects. Best Gardening.com, A New Zealand Website at http://www.bestgardening.co.nz/bgc/hub/kidspressflowers01.htm, has instructions for pressing flowers using both flower presses and heavy books (that's how I did it as a child). Instructions for suncatchers, bookmarks, and other projects are included. (These activities would be great as family projects too.)
-- Compare and contrast: How are the pressed flowers like the unpressed flowers? How are they different? What senses are you using to find out?

MYSTERY WALK
Take a Mystery Walk during a class; walk through a garden or schoolyard. For readers, provide clues written on small cards; for pre-readers, call out what to look (smell, listen) for. Examples:
-- Yellow flowers (What part of your body are you using?)
-- A rustling noise (What is making the sound? What part of your body tells you about sound?)
-- A pleasant odor (What part of your body are you using?)
-- An unpleasant odor
-- Smooth leaves
-- Rough leaves
-- Round flowers (flat, bell-shaped, and so on)
Repeat this activity on another day, but have children make up the clues.

READ, READ, READ
Read about flowers and plants: Children can *listen* to stories about flowers and plants.
-- From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons
-- The Flower Alphabet Book, by Jerry Pallotta
-- Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney
-- Growing Colors, by Bruce McMillan
-- Planting a Rainbow, by Lois Ehlert



ON THE WEB

Check out the following Web sites for more background and activities.

Gardening for the Senses/ The Sensual Garden on the Garden Forever Web site provides a list of plants to stimulate the senses -- including a list of plants to listen to!
http://www.gardenforever.com/pages/artsenses.htm

Gardening with Kids at the I Can Garden Web site: Ideas for garden exploration with a scientific focus.
http://www.icangarden.com/document.cfm?task=
viewdetail&itemid=4724&categoryid=4

PBS Kids presents directions for pressed flower placemats.
http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/do/
pressedflowerplacema.html

Kids Gardening.com (from the National Gardening Association) contains a wealth of information for teachers, including classroom activities.
http://www.kidsgardening.com/

Enchanted Learning presents directions for making stationery and cards using pressed flowers.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/
plants/pressedflowers/

Van Dyck's Family Gardening site is filled with gardening activities and craft activities using plants.
https://www.dutchbulbs.com/?redirect=backlinks