I introduced a new fingerplay/song to our morning movement circle this week, about Milkweed seeds and pods. I wasn't sure how it would go over, since it was replacing a beloved fingerplay/song about apples in our line-up, but the kids love it. In preparation, I collected a couple Milkweed pods with seeds for our nature table (seen in the picture) for the kids to explore. But given that this is the first year we've collected Milkweed pods, and we don't have any on our property (the Milkweed plants we do have grew late and never flowered this year), they pretty much were not connecting our new song with the seeds on the table.
So yesterday, after our circle and story, I picked up one of the pods, sang the first verse of the song, gently removed a seed, and blew it across the living room with a puff of air. That got their attention! We brought the pod outside to release the seeds into the yard so that maybe our Milkweed population will grow next year. Here Zoo Boy shows off the pod.
The kids had a blast teasing out the Milkweed seeds, fluffing up their "wings", blowing them into the air, and watching them dance away. J sang bits of the song throughout the activity. "I wonder what makes them fly?" he puzzled. Zoo Boy had an answer, "They've got fairies in them!"
Zoo Boy made a big discovery -- Dandelions have the same kinds of seeds that Milkweeds do. He found a nice fuzzy one in the lawn, ready to blow, and released all those seeds too. (Wouldn't my neighbors be thrilled to know about all these weed seeds we're joyously releasing?) That sent us on an expedition to find more seeds that blow in the wind.
Success! These little flowers (which I actually think are a native dandelion) were growing along our pasture fence, and their seeds blew off and rode the wind, too. We also found some Maple keys, which also danced in the wind, though they didn't fly nearly as far as Milkweed seeds. And we found some acorns, which most definitely do NOT fly, even though they fall through the air pretty well.
I introduced a new fingerplay/song to our morning movement circle this week, about Milkweed seeds and pods. I wasn't sure how it would go over, since it was replacing a beloved fingerplay/song about apples in our line-up, but the kids love it. In preparation, I collected a couple Milkweed pods with seeds for our nature table (seen in the picture) for the kids to explore. But given that this is the first year we've collected Milkweed pods, and we don't have any on our property (the Milkweed plants we do have grew late and never flowered this year), they pretty much were not connecting our new song with the seeds on the table.
So yesterday, after our circle and story, I picked up one of the pods, sang the first verse of the song, gently removed a seed, and blew it across the living room with a puff of air. That got their attention! We brought the pod outside to release the seeds into the yard so that maybe our Milkweed population will grow next year. Here Zoo Boy shows off the pod.
The kids had a blast teasing out the Milkweed seeds, fluffing up their "wings", blowing them into the air, and watching them dance away. J sang bits of the song throughout the activity. "I wonder what makes them fly?" he puzzled. Zoo Boy had an answer, "They've got fairies in them!"
Zoo Boy made a big discovery -- Dandelions have the same kinds of seeds that Milkweeds do. He found a nice fuzzy one in the lawn, ready to blow, and released all those seeds too. (Wouldn't my neighbors be thrilled to know about all these weed seeds we're joyously releasing?) That sent us on an expedition to find more seeds that blow in the wind.
Success! These little flowers (which I actually think are a native dandelion) were growing along our pasture fence, and their seeds blew off and rode the wind, too. We also found some Maple keys, which also danced in the wind, though they didn't fly nearly as far as Milkweed seeds. And we found some acorns, which most definitely do NOT fly, even though they fall through the air pretty well.
2 comments:
I enjoyed your post. Thank you for submitting it to the Carnival of Homeschooling!
About the neighbors and weeds: If they like Monarch Butterflies, they will enjoy the milkweed in their yards next year!
I saw milkweed pods along the road near my house this past week, mature and full of seed. We brought them to our yard and blew the fluff and seed all over the hillside. We hope this will be Monarch country next year!
Nice post!
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