Spring gardening lesson plans inspire hands-on, kinesthetic science, art, and social studies learning for elementary students.
A great bulletin board can motivate students to want to learn about a new subject. After a long winter, what could be more energizing than a bulletin board to announce the beginning of a multi-disciplinary thematic unit focused on gardening and flowers?
Handprint Bulletin Board Flowers
Materials: sky-blue butcher paper, Stefen Bernath's Garden Flowers Coloring Book (Dover), multiple colors of tempera or finger paint, paint brushes, white paper, Parts of a Flower picture for each student from the American Museum of Natural History website, scissors, construction paper, gule
Content Areas: Science, Art, Fine Motor Development
Activities:
- Begin the lesson by reading and discussing The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller
- Cover the bulletin board with the butcher paper.
- Show students pictures from the Garden Flowers Coloring Book and ask them to observe the different petal, leaf, and stem characteristics.
- Using the Garden Flowers Coloring Book as a guide, have students create different types of flower blossoms on the white paper using painted hand prints for petals. Spreading fingers will create larger, lacier petals; holding fingers together will create more compact, solid petals.
- Once paintings are dry, students should cut-out the blossoms.
- Have students cut-out construction paper flower parts and glue the parts to the flower petals. Note: Your requirements for this part of the project should reflect the age of your students. For very young students, you might create card stock stencils or have copies of ready-to-color and cut-out out flower parts. (Possible Key Words: pistil, stigma, stamen, anther, filament, ovary, style, filament, sepal, receptacle, peduncle)
- Staple the flowers onto the bulletin board to make a colorful classroom garden. Older students can then add painted or cut-out stems and leaves to the flowers. Teachers might cut-out or paint the stems and leaves for younger students.
- Finally add a title with cut-out letters. You might have students brainstorm a title for their classroom creation.
State Flower Exhibit
Materials: online or book encyclopedia, colored air dry clay, clay tools (plastic knives and large nails work well for this purpose)
Content Areas: Science, Social Studies, Research Skills, Fine Motor Development
Activities:
- Assign each student a state flower to research.
- Have students create a detailed clay model of their assigned flowers.
- Allow flowers to dry.
- Have each student create a construction paper state flag to go with his or her clay flower.
- Invite other classes to visit the state flower exhibition.
Now that your students are engaged in the gardening theme unit, why not teach them how to create flower friendy soil with a worm compost habitat or craft garden themed diamond poetry that also assesses a student's knowledge of parts of speech?
