Flower Week MONDAY Schedule (plus links to printables!)

Everyday activities:

Study vocabulary words. I like to use Montessori-style nomenclature cards for these. I print and laminate them, then cut them apart and punch holes in the corners. For some reason, my kids love flipping through the cards when they're on a little binder ring. More fun than a flat page I suppose! Download your free flower nomenclature cards HERE. She has a whole bunch of awesome nomenclature card sets for free to download, and I would suggest getting them all! But for this week specifically, scroll down just a smidge and click on "Flowers" under the heading "Nomenclature/3-part cards.

Work on beginning alphabet sounds. This week I chose to use the cards from a set of printables you can download HERE. Many of my resources are coming from that set, so while you're in there, go ahead and get all three parts. Again, I love to laminate these and put them on the binder ring. That way you can use a clothespin to mark the correct letter, or a dry erase marker.

Work on counting skills. I am using the counting clip cards that you can download HERE. I'm also having several of my resources coming from that set. Laminate, put them on the binder ring. Use a clothespin to mark the correct number, or a dry erase marker.

 Practice letter tracing. The set you downloaded for the alphabet sounds (HERE if you still need them) includes three alphabet pages. P for Pots, G for gloves, and S for Seeds. I laminate those as well, and the kids love doing them over and over again.

Scissor or prewriting practice. I found these in the set you downloaded for the counting cards (HERE if you still need them). If you intend on using these for prewriting practice, go ahead and laminate them. If you prefer to use them for your little ones to work on their scissor skills, just print them on regular paper.

MONDAY:

Go to the library. Have your children ask their librarian to help them find books about plants or flowers. Search for at least one that discusses the life cycle of a plant - something you can use to talk about all the different stages of a plant's development.


Investigate seeds. Take your seed packets, and empty each set of seeds into a snack size ziploc bag with the package. (So no one eats them or dumps them all over the floor) Talk about how flowers start as tiny little seeds and grow! Use your magnifying glasses to examine the seeds. Talk about each seed - ask them which are the biggest, which are smallest. Have you seen these kind of seeds before (such as watermelon seeds). I got the idea from HERE.

(Some more good resources for seeds can be found HERE.)

Plant a bean in a jar or old CD case. A classic science experiment for kids of any age - a great walkthrough of the experiment is HERE.

"Roll a Flower" activity. This looks like a fun game for the kids to play! Roll the dice to see which part of the flower you get to lay down. I may print two sets of this game, so both of my boys can play together. Laminate for extra durability! Found in the set you got the counting cards from (HERE if you still need them).

Flowers in a strainer. Perfect simple activity for my littlest one. Just take your silk flowers (after you cut them into the individual stems) and have them stick the stems into an overturned strainer. Fun, simple, and I know it'll keep her occupied for quite a while! Idea found HERE.








Garden sensory bin. This one you'll probably have to keep up all week, if your kids are like mine! A sensory bin is one of the most anticipated activities for any theme week! Fill a bin with pinto beans, add some small pots or containers, silk flowers, and some kid-sized gardening tools.





Start your Plant Lapbook. Work on this project one little piece each day, and by the end of the week your child will have their own little display of everything they learned. Great for showing off to family members and for reviewing the information after the theme week is finished. For the assembly of the actual lapbook, see HERE. For this first day, we'll work on a mini book for the plant life cycle. Download HERE.

More of the schedule to come!