We live in a sunny side of the United States where you can grow variety of flowering plants that needs a direct sunlight in regular basis. Spring and summer is the perfect time of the year to expose our little ones to the breathtaking beauty of nature. My three-year old daughter loves to touch and smell flowers wherever she can find one. Her grandma has a wide collection of beautiful spring flowers from her garden that she can take care of. I am sharing today our Montessori botany flower unit and activities at home together with my three year old daughter Audrey.
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Flower Puzzle Presentation
Materials: Flower puzzle, photo of a flower with labeled parts.
First, I introduce a single flower to a child. Presenting a real flower is better. I show this flower puzzle and present one by one the parts of a flower such as: petal, pistil, sepal and stamen. It is best to use the three period lesson so the child will easily get the concept of each parts of the flower. You can present the basic parts of the flower when presenting to a young child. In my case, I have a three year old and the efficient way to learn the basic flower parts is to isolate the difficulty or start from the easy ones. You can begin to include other parts of the flower once the child is ready so as not to overwhelmed her.
Parts Of The Flower
This is the complete parts of the flower. As the child advances and more familiar with the basic parts of the flower, you can add more complex names like pedundle, receptacle and filament depending on her learning stages.
Three Part Card Presentation
Materials: Three part card, miniature flowers
After presenting the flower parts, I then proceed with the presentation of eight different flowers. Photo below shows eight different miniature flowers with the three part cards:
- Sunflower
- Bird of paradise
- Lotus
- Tulip
- Daffodil
- Hibiscus
- Rose
- Orchid
Practical Life Extension: Flower Arrangement
Materials: Eight miniature flowers, small basket, play dough & tray
This is one of the many extensions of a flower unit. Audrey loves to use a dough and this is a great way to use as a soil for flower arrangement. I first show her one by one the different kinds of flower in a small basket. Then I slowly put one at a time each flower into the dough making sure each of the flower have enough spaces. Once I finished putting all the flowers I will say “I’m done with my flower arrangement work”. Then I will put back the flowers one at a time into the basket. I will then say “Can you do the flower arrangement Audrey?” Then I will pass the tray to her.
Language Extension: Flower Word Matching
Materials: White printer paper with the eight flower names written or printed on it, small basket, miniature flowers, tray.
This is another extension for language. I wrote eight different flower names in a white sheet of paper. I then name each flower using the three period lesson and place each flower in the corresponding slot.
Resources:
Flower A First Discovery Book, Montessori Printshop,Flower Facts
“The education which a good mother or a good modern teacher gives today to the child who, for example, is running about in a flower garden is the counsel not to touch the flowers, not to thread on the grass; as if it were sufficient for the child to satisfy the psychological needs of his body by moving his legs and breathing fresh air.” (p. 154 TMM)
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