“Look Mama! Spring is here!” one of my kids calls from the backyard. Spotting that first flower in the garden after a long cold Winter is one of life’s small joys and a true sign that Spring is finally here. My kids are often the ones to notice the newest buds and blooms.

When those first flowers appear is the perfect time to celebrate Spring with your kids or classroom. Below are some ideas for a Preschool Planting Unit.

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Preschool Planting Unit

Planting Unit Field Trip Ideas

I believe firmly in learning through adventure so field trips are often at the center of our learning. They inspire, inform, and excite our learning.

1. Flower Color Nature Walk

Last year we started our Spring unit with a Flower themed color hunt around the neighborhood to further deepen the early interest in flowers.

Prep:

Introduce the idea before you go.

We read Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert and then went back through the book reviewing the different colors we saw. As we identified each color, I drew a corresponding circle of the color on a piece of paper for each of them.

Walk:

*Papers in hand, we headed out into the neighborhood to see what we could spot.

*Consider taking a photo of each flower you find or inviting your child to take a photo.

Back at Home:

*Print photos of the flowers and arrange an invitation to draw at the table.

*Talk about planting your own plants or flowers.

2. Visit the Garden Center

It might be easier to gather the gardening supplies on your own, but I encourage you to resist the urge.

With your child(ren) make a list of what you will need. Draw pictures of each item next to the word to enable them to help and start to draw the connection between words and meaning. This is the sort of learning through adventure that gives children a meaningful context for a concept.

At the Garden Center:

*Focus on only what you need for this project. It is tempting to take care of other errands, but keeping it focused helps your child stay involved and draw a connection between making the list, buying the supplies, and planting.

*Offer your child choices where you can. “This type of seed or this one?” “Do you want to plant purple flowers or red ones?”

*As you shop, refer back to the list often to demonstrate the value of reading and list making.

*If they are interested, help them read the labels on the items you are buying.

Planting Unit Picture Books for Preschoolers

Gathering books on a subject is a wonderful way to get children excited and broaden your exploration of a topic. Here are some books in our home library about Gardening.

1. Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

Beautiful non-fiction book about the rainbow of colors to be found in a garden. Excellent vocabulary and lesson in color recognition. 2+

2. Two Old Potatoes and Me by John Coy

I wrote a lengthy paper in college about John Coy that was initially inspired by my great affection for this book. A father and daughter discover two old potatoes and decide to grow them. Over the course of a year they plant, care for, and wait for their potatoes to grow. Meanwhile, it is the story of a father and daughter navigating a new divorce and a deepening relationship. It is a warm, patient look at the process of growth both in people and in potatoes. 3+

3. Rachel’s Day in the Garden by Giselle Shardlow

I have long been a fan of Giselle Shardlow’s Kids Yoga Stories. As much as I have liked the other Kids Yoga Stories, Rachel’s Day In the Garden is my new favorite. The story is sweet and simple. It tells a Spring story that discusses the colors of the season while integrating simple yoga moves that are timely for the season and age appropriate for two to eight year olds. The yoga positions fit well with in the story and provided us with a pleasant flow that my three year olds found challenging, but doable. My favorite parts of this book, however are the illustrations, which exude the colors of Spring with warmth, texture, and charm. Make sure to visit the Kids Yoga Sitehttp://www.kidsyogastories.com/ if you are interested in more information and resources for doing yoga with young children.  2+

4. And Then it’s Spring by Julie Fogliano

Every now and then an author and illustrator are magically paired and such is the case with Fogliano and Erin E. Stead. Together they balance each other with whimsy, space, and a gentleness that cannot be forced. And Then It’s Spring tells the story of a boy who plants and waits. It is a quiet tale of waiting and worry and hope. It is the tale of spring. The magical transformation from brown earth to splendid green that can so rarely be captured outside of reality. Carefully chosen words and soft illustrations, this is a beautiful look at the patient process of planting and the gradual approach of Spring. 2+

5. The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy

A charming and humorous counting book about an old man and a woman and their garden. Together they plant some vegetables in their garden. After the months pass, they decide one morning that it is time to harvest their plants and discover a gigantic turnip. They are surprised to find that they cannot move it, so they enlist their farm animals forming a comical line up of helpers. 2+

6. Flower Garden by Eve Bunting

In this soft, colorful story a little girl and her dad buy some flowers at the grocery store and lug them home to their apartment. Together they plant them in a window box as a gift for the mother’s birthday. A sweet story by the talented Eve Bunting about family, flowers, and simple gifts. 2+

7. Grow Flower Grow by Lisa Bruce

My kids love a good silly story and Fran is silly. She and her dog discover a planted flower stem and want to help it grow. Unfortunately they have no idea how to care for a plant and their diet of pizza and cheeseburgers does not have the effects they were hoping for. Ultimately, mother nature offers a simple lesson in how to help a flower grow. 2+

8. Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner

Completely original look at what is going above and below the ground all year long. Beautiful, soft illustrations and quiet story about a little girl who plants and cares for a garden with her Nana. As a bonus, there is a mountain of information at the back about all those helpful, and not so helpful, little critters down in the dirt. 3+

9. Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn

In Lola’s most recent adventure, she becomes enchanted by the darling poem “Mary Mary Quite Contrary” and wants to plant her own flowers. I love the way her book of poems inspires a gardening adventure and a summer of fun. Simple and straightforward but filled with life and color, this is a delightful planting book for young children. 2+

Planting Unit Activities

Top Tips for Planting with Toddlers & Preschoolers

Materials:

• Pot
• Potting Soil
• Seeds – we planted marigolds, basil, and green beans
• Measuring Cups to use as scoops
• Watering can or cup of water
• Newspaper or other large piece of paper

Set Up:

1. Gather your materials
2. Cover your surface with newspaper (or do this activity outside)
3. Prepare a planting station for each kid with a pot, smaller pot or bowl with dirt, a scoop.
4. Have the seeds handy but out of reach of your toddlers.

Read Also: How to Use Emergent Curriculum with Toddlers

Activity:

Invite your kids to plant – or remind them that you have seeds to plant from your trip to the garden shop.

1. Help them each find a station.
2. Then have each kid scoop dirt into their pot. 
3. Demonstrate how to poke a hole for the seeds and then invite them to try.
4. Have them put one seed in each hole. This does not have to be perfect, but encourage them to spread the seeds out in the pot.
5. Scoop more dirt to cover up the seeds like a blanket.
6. Have them help you fill up a watering can or cup at the sink. Then carefully carry it back and water the seeds.
7. Talk about how it will be there job to water the seeds a couple of times a week. If you have a calendar for your kids, I have found it helpful to mark watering days on the calendar. Older kids may be ready to learn how to check the dirt and figure out which days to water.
8. Then together find a sunny place to put your pots.

Clean Up:

• Wash their hands or, if they are capable, send them to wash their hands.
• Remove the pot of dirt and then the paper from the table.
• Finish by sweeping. If your child is interested, they might like to help you with this step as well. A little set like this makes it easier for them to practice.

*Remember to water your plants occassionally. I am a terrific plant killer – putting a reminder on my phone helps me, but having a set day or two that you water might also help. Here’s a post about how our toddlers water their plants.
*For older children, plot the growth or draw pictures about what you think the seeds might look like after they sprout.
*Look for a good pesto recipe, because fresh basil is amazing!

DIY Plant Markers

I am always drawn towards ways to integrate art into learning.

With this unit we not only drew pictures of the flowers we saw on our walk and made suncatchers from the petals we collected, but also made our own Plant Markers. You can search for plant markers on Pinterest and find some super creative ways, one of my favorites being this one from Twig and Toadstool using wooden spoons, but we went with simple ones using materials we had on hand.

Materials:

• Candy sticks
• Green cardstock
• Washi tape
• Markers
• Crayons

Process:

Cut paper down to desired size.

Draw a picture or have your child draw a picture of what they are planting and label it with a word.

Fold and tape to the stick using the washi tape.

I made some extra to use in our dramatic play.

Note*These were not waterproof so when our twins helped with watering they got a little damaged. Either laminating them or removing while we watered would have been helpful.

Gardening Dramatic Play

Pretend play or dramatic play is an excellent way for children to deepen their understanding and practice roles or ideas they have witnessed in life. This simple tray was arranged and placed in our dramatic play center to further practice the planting process. Our twins later used it to pretend to be a Garden Center as well.

Here is what I included:

• Extra DIY Plant Markers
• Empty Upcycled Seed Packets
• Extra Small Pots
• Measuring Scoop
• Empty Upcycled Snack Container wrapped with construction paper and labeled DIRT
• Brown Construction Paper that I tore and balled into small shapes to use as pretend dirt.

The lovely thing about planting is that it doesn’t just end there. Plants of all kinds grow and change, endearing themselves to all kinds of activities. Even once your planting unit finishes, continue to follow your plants, care for them, and observe the changes as they grow throughout the Spring.

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