Okay, so this is quite possibly the simplest activity ever, but it was thoroughly enjoyed and I was blown away with what Miss G did with it. Earlier today, as Grae was cleaning up from quiet play time, I quickly popped outside to the yard to see what sort of spring nature items I could find. I knew I was definitely going to be borrowing a blossom or two off of the beautiful tree we currently have out front, and I managed to find all sorts of other pretty things too.
Not having a specific project or activity in mind {but knowing that I wanted to put those beautiful blossoms to use somehow}, I decided to simply set out a spring nature exploration station in the playroom. { ‘Exploration stations’ are always a hit in our house as they’re filled with fun materials and are an invitation for open-ended, unguided play.}
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Along with my nature items, I set out a small magnifying glass, a pair of scissors, World’s Best Bug Viewer, and a notebook and pencil. Oh – and at the very last minute, I added a pair of play glasses. Because play glasses make sciencey things so much more official. ☺
Miss G had already spotted me setting something up in the playroom, so the moment she was done cleaning up, she asked if she could play. Admittedly, she did ask if I could explain what to do, but when I told her that she could do whatever she wanted with the items set out on the table, she jumped right in.
Part of me thought she’d cut everything up right away in order to create some sort of magic potion or fairy soup, but after checking on Sam, I returned to find this… She’d created a little diagram complete with labels for ‘bud’, ‘flower’, and ‘stem’!
Next she moved on to investigating a leaf using her World’s Best Bug Viewer and while she created another diagram, she explained to me that the reason leaves have veins is to transport water… {Isn’t watching your kids learn and be interested in their learning the very best thing in the world?}
Next up was some stem investigation…
Which then sparked this chart all about what plants need in order to grow, which then sparked her ‘giving a talk’ to Sam so that he could also learn about what plants need to grow. ☺
We’ll definitely be keeping this little exploration station out for a while and adding new nature items as we find them.