Joy School - Plants

September is here and it is time to get back in the swing of things...including Joy School!

Our theme this month is "nature' and we kicked that theme off with a study of plants.

Lesson Time:
-we looked at both pictures of plants and real plants and found the parts: roots, stem, leaves and flowers.
- we learned the we need plants for food
-we learned what plants need to grow: light, warmth, soil, and water

- we learned what is in a seed and looked at both real seeds and pictures of seeds
- we opened up a peanut to see the tiny plant inside the seed
- we crouched down and pretended to be seeds in the ground, then slowly we grew to be big trees with our arms reaching out for branches and our fingers wiggling like leaves in the breeze.

Science Time:

-we went outside and planted a bean seed in our own cups of soil and watered them. The kids all got to take them home and watch them grow as time progresses

Craft Time: We made impressions of leaves.

It was really cool. We used some stiff clay, rolled it into a ball, then sandwiched it between sheets of waxed paper and used a rolling pin on it until it made a disc.

Then we added our leaves and rolled them again to make an impression.

We peeled off the leaves and baked the clay in the oven until it was hard, and then it was done! A great keepsake from Joy School!

Art Time: Plant collages

We used different kinds of seeds and leaves to create nature collages on paper. The kids actually spent a lot of time making these and were very into it, which is great.

Snack Time: Snack time was great.

First we talked about plants we eat and thought of different parts of plants that we eat. For example, we eat roots when we eat carrots and potatoes, we eat stems when we eat celery or rhubarb, leaves when we eat lettuce and spinach, flowers when we eat broccoli, fruit when we eat oranges and bananas, and seeds when we eat peanuts or sunflower seeds.

Then our host mom pulled out her snacks, (fruit and cheese) and we figured out which came from a plant. Then we discussed how even though the cheese didn't come right off the plant, a cow ate plants and then made milk, and then we got the cheese from the milk, so plants help us get all kinds of foods.

Then we just enjoyed it!

Music Time:

We sang several fun action songs.

*Farmer Brown had 5 Green Apples

*Do You Know the Parts of Plants

*One more that I can't remember the name to. Sorry - I know that isn't helpful. It was to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell though.

Story Time:

We read several library books, none of which the kids had seen before, so they enjoyed that.

One Tree, The Old Tree Stump, and Planting Seeds

Wiggle Time:

We played a Venus flytrap game where one person was the flytrap and sat in the middle of the room. Then the rest of us flew around in circles until the plant reached out and snapped at us with their hands. If we got caught, we became the fly trap, and the other person had a turn as a bug.

It was a great way to get back into the swing of it, and the kids were happy to be at Joy School again.