sprouting sunflower seeds: part 2

We began our sprouting jars at the end of our week with the plan that we would be able to plant out our seeds the following week. I took the wee jars home over the weekend and when I brought them back on Monday, sure enough, they were ready to plant out!

*potting soil
*small scoops
*half an egg carton per child
*rimmed trays to work on
*spray bottles/misters

Step 1: Before we began, I opened  out our classroom jar and spread out the damp seeds onto a tray. I then sat down with the children and discussed what had happened to our seeds over the weekend and invited the children to investigate.We then compared fresh seeds to our sprouted seeds and listed how they were different on a large sheet of paper.

Step 2: When the children were ready they came over to the planting center and retrieved their jar. The first thing they did was scoop potting soil into their egg carton.

Step 3: Once their cartons were full of soil, they removed the rim and mesh from their jars and either shook or scooped their seeds out and spread them along the top of the potting soil. Many of the children chose to use their hands for this part.

Step 4. When planting sprouted seeds you do not need to cover them in soil. They can rest lightly on top of the soil as their roots are already developed. You do however need the soil to be damp so pass out those spray bottles and let the kiddos go to town!

Step 5. Once their seeds and soil are full saturated, set in a semi sunny place and keep an eye on them so that the soil does not dry out. The children would revisit their seeds throughout the day and spray them with glee. At the end of the day we would pour water into the trays to keep the cartons wet overnight.

Step 6. Sunflower sprouts appear to grow crazy fast! Once they reach about two inches high, they can be planted outside. If you wait too long they will be a bit root bound in the cartons but that is okay as the carton can be planted directly into the ground. While the children chose their perfect spot and dug their perfect holes, the adults in the classroom gently separated the cups in the carton and helped the children plant out their seeds in our play yard. I do not have any photos of this part and sadly we lost most of our sprouts to a crazy record breaking heat wave but we do have three flowers growing in the yard. Before the heat wave came, the children would check the status of their flowers every day. Once the sprouts began failing do to heat and some over watering by our young enthusiastic gardeners we brought that information into the discussion and now the children as about the temperature and ask which plants are okay or not okay. Awesome learning all around!

sprouting sunflower seeds: part 1

 Back in the fall we spent a week investigating all things sunflowers, in March, we sprouted our own seeds to plant in our play yard. The flowers are growing taller everyday but have been so very slow to bloom but that's okay, the children love watering them and talk often of the time they sprouted their seeds. Sunflowers are awesome an awesome bloom. They produce edible seeds and their tiny sprouts are also edible. We set up an area for the children to create their sprouting jars and got to work.

*sunflower seeds (organic optional)

*small jars such as jelly or baby food

*tulle or mesh from a citrus bag or bath scrubbie

*rubber bands or canning jar rings

*scissors

*small scoops or spoons

*small pitcher of water

*containers for seeds

Step 1. Pass out a small jar for each child. We used 4oz jelly jars with the lid removed and rings set aside. 

Step 2. Have children scoop 1-2 small scoops of seeds into their jar. If you wish for the children to enjoy and sample the sprouts, use organic seeds, otherwise you can use black oiled sunflower seeds used for bird feed which can be found for in 5 pound bags for under $10.

Step 3. Have children pour water into their jars as full as they can. 

Step 4. Place a small square of netting, tulle, or mesh over the top of the jar and add rim or rubber band to hold the netting in place. 

Step 5. Place in a cool dark area of the room and replace water every six to eight hours. We placed our jars onto a rimmed tray so that I could take home and babysit. After the first day, you will pour out the water but continue to rinse every six to eight hours. Seeds should produce a tiny little root/tail in about two to three days. The rinsing is especially important if you are going to be sampling the sprouts/micro greens as the rinsing will help keep anything else growing on your greens.

If you are interested in sprouting seeds for food or fun, check out this nifty info page from The Sprout People. I have found their website to be very helpful and informative.

make a cupcake liner and coffee filter {sun} flower

Back in November when we had our week of sunflowers, the kiddos make these fun coffee filter and cupcake liner flowers to take home.

 

I set up a table with all the supplies to create sunflowers along with a vase of flowers for inspiration. There were three different colors/prints of cupcake liners, brown coffee filters, tissue paper, sunflower seeds, and gluesticks. The children began with a coffee filter (though some chose not to use one) and layered on their cupcake liners after they flattened them. When they were happy with their layers, they picked a number between one and ten then counted out the corresponding number of sunflower seeds to glue onto the center of their flower-to-be.

 

 

As the glue dried on their flowers, they selected a stick (dried branches from my grapevine) and to paint with green paint they mixed up on their own choosing from a selection of blues and yellow paint (thus revisiting little blue and little yellow). Glitter is always a choice (gotta use those pinching grips) and a wee tissue leaf or two was squished atop the wet paint. Once the stems were dry, the children squeezed out a blob of glue onto their stem and placed their flower where they wanted it. This was a project that focused on following steps with a lot of fun discussion in between.

our week of sunflowers

Fall is a lovely time to study sunflowers. Our literature for the week was The Lion and the Mouse. I added sunflowers to the mix since they were growing all over town and in season. It helps that a sunflower can resemble an artistic lion...if you squint a bit.

 

My sunflowers at home had gone past a few weeks before and I saved one of the dried head for exploration. Since I had no fresh flowers I picked up a bouquet at Trader Joe's and popped them all about the classroom. One large bunch was featured on our nature and science table and one of the students got to exploring it with a cinnamon stick. Of course!

 

 

Before placing the flower head on the table, I brushed at it a bit to make it a smidge less pokey. The children explored it with our magnifying glasses and used tweezers to remove seeds.

We also had a jar of store bought seeds for scooping and pouring. SOe of the seeds made their way to our play-dough table.

 

I made the dough and added a bit of lavender oil for scent. Add some seeds and some glitter and the children played and played for the longest time!

As we observed our sunflowers, the children named the colors they saw and we sorted our beads to make our own sunflower colored bracelets.

There was also some dissection going on. We wrote down the words the children used to describe what they saw, felt, and smelled. We talked about our senses as we made our observations.

 

The children painted up egg cartons and scooped out seeds into green paper envelopes to take home for home sorting and playing. They were so proud! At the end of the week I sent the children home with a recipe for chocolate covered sunflower seed oatmeal cookies. Those were super tasty! We also did a lot of arty projects which I will post next. Sunflowers were a lot of fun to explore for the week. We will definitely do it again!