Flower Power! Part 2: Playing with Petals

Yesterday we handcrafted artificial flowers and today we are playing with the real thing! You'd have to be pretty crazy to let your kids cut, tear, stick, stir, pound and otherwise destroy the brand new fresh cut flowers you just bought for Shavuot. As it turns out, I'm pretty crazy! But you can also reserve these activities for a couple of weeks after Shavuot when those beautiful cut flowers are beginning to droop. Alternatively, many florists will gladly dispose of damaged goods and fallen petals in your direction if you ask! Either way, these next few activities are fabulously fun for your budding botanists...

1. Lavender Scented Petal Potion Sensory Bin

This is one of my very favorite sensory bins we have ever done! We were pretty rained in this week so it was a good indoor activity with an element of outdoor flare. You could easily set this up outside as well using petals and foliage from your own garden. Even setting up the bin is fun! Remember when you were a kid and you used to play "(s)he loves me, (s)he loves me not?" You get to play it again today as you pluck petals from a few colorful blooms. You won't need a lot of flowers for this, just a few with a lot of petals. Add in some interesting leaves, stems, flower centers or buds--no part is left behind. Even long stems make for great potion stirrers along with a couple of mixing spoons and maybe some bowls for filling and pouring. Add your petals into some water, a few drops of lavender essential oil if you wish, some pink food coloring (or your color of choice) and also a generous shake of glitter. Flower soup, petal potions, and all kinds of whimsical magic will take place... If you are using this indoors, you might want to set out a hand towel and waterproof smock or apron, but the bonus is that your spills will smell lovely and be pretty easy to clean up.

2. Floral Arranging

I do not have an eye for floral arrangements. Usually, I take a bouquet, clip the ends, and stuff them in a vase and done. Children, on the other hand, have a wonderful eye for floral arranging. S in particular loves flowers. He loves picking them outside when he can, planting them, growing them, playing with them and caring for them. He was so excited a few weeks ago when he woke up from his nap before Shabbos and I had brought home a Shabbos "treat" for him and Y: a small flower plant (pictured above). I actually thought he would be annoyed it was not an edible treat, but instead he immediately declared ownership of the orange flower plant and nearly every morning, I see he has taken the pot from the tray it sits in and placed it upon his breakfast placemat just beside his water cup and chewable vitamin. He loves to tell me when he notices a bud opening into a new orange blossom. He truly knows how to appreciate flowers and I am banking upon him (with a little help from Y) to also know how to arrange our selection of cut flowers (thank you, husband!) in our selection of vases for Shavuot. Children (with some support as needed) can cut the ends of stems and decide how to arrange the flowers. With vases of different sizes, they will need to call upon their mathematical and engineering skills to know how tall the flowers need to be and how many can fit into a vase. They can add water and help decide where to place the finished arrangements. If you have some ribbon on hand, you may wish to tie some around a vase. If you have some marbles or waterbeads or mosaic tiles, you may wish to add them into a vase. Have fun and get as creative as you'd like!

You can notice which flowers have a smell and which do not. You can talk about the colors and textures and varieties. You can also talk about the importance of leaving flowers growing in nature to grow in nature, unless otherwise specified and that cut flowers can last only for a short while in water once they have been harvested from the ground. It is a great opportunity to teach a sense of reverence and gratitude for the fleeting beauty that cut flowers add to our homes and holiday tables.

3. Petal Pounding Art

If you have yet to try your hand at hammering flower petals, you simply must! It is so much fun! You'll need some colorful flower petals and leaves (in the Fall, you can use a variety of colorful foliage), some white or off white fabric (remnants or cloth napkins are great) and a plastic or real hammer. You may wish to wear safety goggles and adult supervision and support is a must. If you're not rained in, take this one outside. If you are, the floor is the best surface to work on, but you may want to put a drop cloth below you to catch any flying petal parts!

Start by arranging a colorful array of petals and foliage on your work surface. I used a placemat and set them right on that. Press your fabric over top and if you have any bulgy blooms, you may want to start off by flattening them a bit with your hand. Now comes the fun part! Pound the heck out of those petals and watch the colors emerge through your fabric! Once it is to your liking and dry, you can choose to display it as is, in a picture frame, to seal your work and use it as a napkin or handkerchief or, as we did, to place it in an embroidery hoop (I found a bunch for super cheap at a thrift store) and make a festive door hanger. You could even use your fabric as recyclable gift wrap. How cute would that be for end of the year teacher gifts?


4. Flower Power Sticky Wall This last activity was aimed more toward the shorter member of my family, but slightly taller family members will also enjoy it! Using clear contact paper and tape, affix your sticky wall to any vertical (or horizontal) surface. I love the look of this Spring themed washi tape border and it's super easy to remove from painted surfaces. Provide a dish of petals and foliage for sticking and re-sticking! Please note that with very young children or those who are likely to mouth materials, that supervision is important. You can find a great list of edible flowers at Fun Flower Facts the Blog. You can also substitute in dismantled silk flowers for this activity.

Well, it's been fun playing with petals, but I'd better put my pedal to the metal and get ready for Shavuot! We'll be back after the holiday and until then...

Happy Playing!

Flower Power! Part 1: Handcrafting Flowers in 3 Fun Ways

Shavuot is just days away and comes this year right on the heels of Shabbos! I love this holiday. In fact, this is the holiday that made me become religious. I often joke it was the 12 varieties of cheesecake dished my way that my dear friend and rebbetzin of the Chabad where I went to college had baked... But truly, it was the deeper connection I felt when at the age of twenty-something and completely unable to read Hebrew or follow a siddur [prayer book], hearing the Aseret Hadibrot [10 Commandments] being read by the rabbi felt strangely familiar and comfortable. It is said that every Jewish soul was present at the receiving of the Torah on Har Sinai. Shavuot, for me, is coming home.

Speaking of home, this morning I awoke with that pending feeling of doom that happens when your to-do list is so long you have to scroll down on your smartphone. What did I do, you ask? I did what any adult in her right mind would do and prepared a bunch of flower themed activities for my kids and I to do over the next few days as we get ready for Shavuot. And what am I making for the holiday meals, you ask? Hopefully reservations!

Today I will start you off with Handcrafting Flowers in 3 Fun Ways. Join me tomorrow for Part 2 of this series, Playing with Petals.

Handcrafting Flowers in 3 Fun Ways

One of the most lovely sights of Shavuot is that of homes and shuls decked with bouquets and vases of fresh cut flowers. We try to capture the beauty of the season as we remember the beauty that G-d bestowed upon Har Sinai. Cut flowers are so lovely and also temporary. For a variety of reasons, you may prefer to include some artificial flowers into the scene and making your own can be great fun! There are many great ways to handcraft flowers with children and it's hard to pick just one. Actually, it's hard to pick just three, but the ones that I've set up for this post are open ended enough that your budding artists will truly blossom and create a bouquet of unique varieties. These flowers will never wilt or die and they will brighten your holiday table for years to come.

What you will need:

Please don't go out and buy supplies now (unless you want to!). Use what you have on deck; substitutions are OK, and I'll list both what we used and some substitution options below...

• floral wire stems (you can substitute in pipe cleaners or craft sticks)
• floral tape, duct tape (or whatever tape you have on hand, even masking tape or scotch tape--washi tape, although super cute, did not stick so well)
• tissue paper in a variety of colors
• white coffee filters (you can substitute in white tissue paper)
• floral printed fabric (I have a stash of pre-cut squares for craft use, but you can use whatever remnants you have and shape and size don't matter all that much--you could even cut and upcycle some old clothing)
• beads
• scissors
• wavy edged scissors (optional)
• washable markers
• watercolor pencils
• a rainy day (you can substitute in tap water!)

1. Rainy Day Coffee Filter Flowers:

 We love rain art! Using your washable markers and/or watercolor pencils, your little ones can doodles and designs to a flattened white coffee filter. Alternatively you can do your art on white tissue paper and cut/tear to desired shape and size before shaping your flowers. Once your design is to your liking, it's time to set it out in the rain! You'll want to encourage your young artist to add a lot of color but not get too attached to the actual design as the rain will surely change it! Also, if you're getting a lot of rain, don't leave your artwork outside too long or you'll come back in with a white coffee filter again! Set your soggy masterpiece on a paper towel or two to dry. Once it is dry, add your stem. With floral wire stems, you'll want to pinch your coffee filter or tissue paper in the middle and create a flower shape while wrapping the wire around the pinched up center. Add some floral tape or your tape of choice to secure and cover the ends and voila! You can add accents with beads or combine multiple coffee filters into one flower...

 2. Tissue Paper Flowers are a classic. Cutting, tearing, scrunching and otherwise arranging a variety of colorful tissue paper into lovely flowers is a craft I remember from my own childhood when I used to scavenge through a recycled shoebox of my grandmother's old Valentine's Day materials from when she taught at a public school. Every flower was different and unique and amazingly, always perfect! Tissue paper is remarkably forgiving and you can work it with your hands as long as it takes to create the look you desire. For these, I added a bead to the wire stem before bending it over, twisting it and poking both ends through the center of my tissue paper stack. I scrunched, shaped and twisted the heck of out it until it looked and felt right. Depending on your little ones' ages and abilities, they may need some assistance from adults or older children, but I've found tissue paper flowers to be a favorite craft among children from toddlerhood on up! When you're satisfied with our look, tape the base of your bloom to secure and protect the sharp wire ends. You may also wish to add some tape to the bottom of the stem.

3. Fabric Flowers are so whimsical and lovely! Using the same method with a bead as I described above, I poked my floral wire stem through two to three interesting squares of floral fabric. Fabric, too, is very forgiving, although requires a bit more finagling (and possibly some adult support) than tissue paper. Just keep twisting, turning, taping until you're pleased with the look and tape down any sharp ends to finish.

Mix it up! Your younger artists will have so many ideas and ways of working with these versatile materials. Let them have at it. Put them on display in your finest vase! Don't worry about the finished product (especially if they're not) and if they want to go hog wild decorating your house from top to bottom with handcrafted flowers, submit your complaints to my email linked in the blog... Flower power, baby!

Happy Playing!

Shavuot Sensory Play Seven Ways

Shavuot is just around the corner and we're playing all about it here! Sweet dairy products and beautiful flowers are two underlying themes that come to the forefront of this beautiful holiday on which we commemorate the Jewish people receiving the Torah at Har Sinai. Crafts, cooking, stories and songs help us prepare for the festive occasion. But what about sensory play? Today's post will get you thinking Outside the Box [Sensory] Bin with fun for all ages! Here are Seven Sweet Ideas for Shavuot Themed Sensory Play:


1. Ice Cream Shoppe Sensory Bin: A  rainbow of pom poms, ice cream scoops, toilet paper tube ice cream cones, spoons and dishes make up this whimsical ice cream shoppe sensory bin that will have your little ones giggling and playing for hours! S has loved this activity over the last couple of years and this year, Y will get to join in the fun! Low on the messiness factor and reusable, this sensory bin has a lot of great qualities going for it--it's also super low in calories (unless it leaves you heading to the freezer for real ice cream)!

2. Dirt Dough Garden Bin: Water and baking soda combine to create a fabulously textured, crumbly dough. Food coloring or paint can add a soil colored hue (ours came out a bit green in this photo from a couple of years ago). Add in some fishing bate worms or rocks, some plastic toy bugs or some flowers--maybe just a shovel and a few gardening tools or even just a set of eager hands. This is a great way to get your hands dirty and digging indoors or outside as you plan your Shavuot flower arrangements and celebrate the Spring season.

3. From Seed to Flower Sensory Bin (or Bottle): Dried beans make up the base of this sensory experience that celebrates every step and part of a flower. For the very little ones, a sensory bottle is a lovely way to contain the components safely and--as an added bonus, it makes a lovely sound when shaken. Older infants, toddlers and beyond will love the sensory bin set-up that will have them digging, planting and arranging flowers in pots. Toss in some play or actual gardening tools, gloves and a variety of colorful silk flowers.

4. Invitation to Build a Playdough Har Sinai: Har Sinai was a notoriously humble little mountain with a special role in Matan Torah. As a reward for being so humble (a parable to the Jewish people), G-d made Har Sinai very beautiful when the Aseret Hadibrot (Ten Commandments) were delivered to the Jewish people via Moshe Rabbeinu. Playdough is a humble little dough with big potential, especially when combined with beautiful silk flowers, glass gems and any lovely loose parts little hands can manipulate. You can use homemade dough or store bought.

Look how little S was!!!

5. Kinetic Sand Har Sinai & Mattan Torah Small World Bin: We used kinetic sand as a base, a selection of glass mosaic shapes and stones, silk flowers and some painted wooden peg dolls. I hand painted a set of luchos using paint pen on a couple mosaic rectangles and S has loved this bin over the past few days. The kinetic sand is so soft and malleable! The addition of peg dolls allows him to incorporate dramatic play into his sensory play and act out the beautiful story of Matan Torah.

6.Flower Arranging: Flowers, flowers everywhere! Sounds a lot like Shavuos, right? You can use playdough as a base to arrange silk flowers, a reusable centerpiece option in lieu of or in addition to fresh cut flowers and vases of water. You can also substitute in floral foam or even clay (both of which we have done before) for an alternative sensory experience. You can use this set up to explore the parts of a flower (pictured to the right) or to arrange whole flowers (pictured below). It is sure to be a lot of fun and definitely an activity you will revisit on other occasions as well!

 7. Petal Play: Flower power! Real flowers are a great sensory material for little hands. Whether they are picked wildflowers, recycled cut flowers or fallen petals from the garden, real flowers are fascinating to budding gardeners. Use them in your water table, offer up some scissors and magnifying glasses or use them with paint for some beautiful prints:

Bonus--Ice Cream Puffy Paint: Did you really think I'd stop at 7?! For a bonus sensory and process art activity, whip up a batch of homemade puffy paint using shaving cream and school glue (mix roughly equal parts until you get your desired thickness, but you really can't go wrong). Add in your favorite ice cream colored hue, offer up a construction paper cone and maybe even a shaker of rainbow sprinkles. Ice Cream Puffy Paint dries to a puffy, hardened and well preserved work of art that will make a lovely decoration for your home this Shavuot...

Want to do more? Here are some other great learning and play activities for Shavuot!

Happy Playing!

Shavuot Theme Round-up

S is especially proud to see his artwork
displayed as we count down the last
days before Shavuot begins!

It's a big holiday week ahead with Memorial Day tomorrow and Shavuot beginning Tuesday night. We will be enjoying some quality family time together before beginning our summer "Story Stretchers Mommy & Me Camp." But before we power down and fire up the grill, here's a little Shavuot theme round-up with some of our favorite activities.


Before you imagine I somehow have a clone who spends a lot of time playing while I am baking and cooking in the kitchen, you should know that many of my activities in preparation for holidays and Shabbat are ones that help me prepare for holidays and Shabbat!



Like baking challah...

From the time he was old enough to sit in a high chair with a blob of dough, S has loved helping to bake challah. Now he also enjoys climbing his step stool in the kitchen and pouring ingredients into our mixer. He likes to shape his own and, um, hinder help me to shape the rest! He loves to sprinkle on toasted sesame seeds and raw sugar. I used to stress myself out trying to fit in all the cooking/baking while he was asleep so we could play when he was awake. Now I see how special he feels to be a part of the preparations for holidays and special occasions--and with two at home on varied nap schedules, it's a lot less stressful to see cooking and cleaning and setting the table together for Shabbat or a holiday as part of our time together--not something that needs to be done so we can have time together!

Y has continued to LOVE the Tiny Seed Sensory bottle S made for him. The sound of the beans and the colorful flowers always make him smile and coo, and S feels especially proud that he made a toy for his brother.

This invitation to create a flower collage was a real winner. Although it's a repeat activity from a year ago, it occupied S's attention for quite some time and process art is always a great way to encourage independent play (so you can be setting the table or folding Mount Laundry in the background). He put a lot of effort and concentration into arranging parts of the flower to resemble a stem and petals. Another benefit to doing repeat activities and projects is our opportunity as parents and/or teachers to see how children have grown and progressed!

Playdough is always a winner of an activity here. I could offer it every day and it still would not get old! S really liked this year's invitation to create and decorate a playdough Har Sinai. Especially the rocks!

Sweet dairy treats like ice cream are a big part of the holiday of Shavuot. We made our own "ice cream" puffy paint for some colorfully delicious looking artwork!

 To make your own Ice Cream Puffy Paint you will need:

• shaving cream
• white school glue
• food coloring
• sprinkles (optional)
• construction paper for background (color of your choice) and ice cream cone (brown)
• scissors, glue stick, markers for details, plastic cup and craft stick for mixing/spreading, baby wipes for hands

1. Cut/prepare your ice cream cone and glue it to the background paper. I cut and drew the details on the cone first, but S used the glue stick to glue it on to the background paper of his choice.
2. Mix your paint! Combine equal parts shaving cream and school glue--you can't really go wrong here from my experience. S loved mixing it with the craft stick and adding food coloring in his choice of color (he picked a light blue). Note that even mixed into paint recipes, sometimes certain shades of food coloring or liquid watercolor can stain hands.
3. Paint and play! If your little artist is sensory averse to sticky textures (like mine is) he/she may prefer to use the mixing stick to apply the paint. S loved drizzling the paint over the paper and spreading it. He loves a lot of messy play, but dislikes sticky textures. I provide wipes or a wet washcloth alongside messy play activities in case children wish to wipe or wash their hands intermittently. Allowing for children to wipe/wash during a project (instead of the ol' wait till you're all done method we're all used to) often is the difference between a child trying and even enjoying a sensory experience versus avoiding them altogether.
4. Sprinkles! So you may want to have some separate sprinkles for nibbling if you have a sprinkle lover like I do! And this is definitely an optional material. You could also use glitter or sequins if you prefer not to use food for art/sensory play (are sprinkles technically food??). S loved using the spice bottle to sprinkle on these colorful little balls of sugar. As noted in the photo above, he also enjoyed a small bit in his hand to eat afterward.
5. Allow time to dry. Particularly in hotter/humid weather, this paint does take time to dry completely. It will be smooth and hard to the touch (an awesome sensory experience in and of itself) once it's dry and can be hung to admire.

 Hearing and learning about the aseret hadibrot (Ten Commandments) is a big part of Shavuot for children. There are so many great craft projects that can be done about this and creative ways to teach about it. If you have not already, check out this great free printable Shavuot activity pack from A Jewish Homeschool Blog. I've used this fellow mommy and blogger's free printable activity packs in a variety of ways. They can be printed and used as is or laminated/slipped into a plastic sheet protector for repeated use with dry erase markers. I've cut and laminated picture and vocabulary cards, puzzles and games for holidays. This time, I used her wonderfully designed page on the aseret hadibrot to incorporate into a craft I designed using a simple black and white image of a Torah I printed off. I presented S with a mini scroll I made by cutting/combining the Ten Commandments from the free printable pack. I affixed each side of the scroll with a paperclip and taped the center. S loved unrolling both sides as we read the aseret hadibrot together. I particularly liked the language that was used in this printable to teach the Ten Commandments to young children. I asked S if he could think of something he has ten of and gave a few clues before he found his 10 fingers! Since we all have a hand in receiving and keeping the Torah, S got to stick both of his hands into washable ink and decorate his Torah. You could encourage your little ones to create distinct hand-prints or allow for creative license. I did a bit of both! After he was done, S and I taped his little aseret hadibrot scroll to the center and hung his finished work. This craft is fun because of its interactive nature. Hung at child level, your little one can return to it to unroll the Ten Commandments and "read" the Torah. You can even remove the paperclips for easier access.

Well, that's a round-up of our Shavuot Theme for this year. Memorial Day weekend also means the opening of pools and sprinkler parks around here and in many other locations. If you're headed outside for some water-play fun, I encourage you to check out these old posts for some ideas for water-play with babies, toddlers and older children! Have a great long weekend, a fabulous week ahead and, as always...

Happy Playing

Beyond the Book: Eric Carle's "The Tiny Seed"

What is Shavuot without flowers? And one of my very favorite children's books about flowers is The Tiny Seed, written and illustrated by Eric Carle. This beautiful story chronicles a group of sunflower seeds through the seasons. As they make their journey through the pages and through different terrains and trials, one question remains--what will happen to the tiny seed? Will it succumb to its humble stature or triumph over the obstacles placed along its way? In addition to sequencing the four seasons of the year and the physical journey of the tiny seeds and its larger counterparts, this book also demonstrates the life cycle of a plant.

We have explored the themes of flowers, plants, and gardening before here through a variety of play activities and wonderful children's books on the topic. We have even read The Tiny Seed before and done extension activities with it. When it comes to Story Stretchers, repetition is OK! After all, how many times does your child request to read and reread a favorite book? I have even talked before about the benefits of using Story Stretcher activities to expand upon themes and concepts presented in a favorite book. This can encourage your young reader to engage in fabulous pretend play, sensory exploration and expand upon language development and other pre-reading skills. It can also eliminate some of the monotony of reading that same book again and again and again...

I find it helpful when engaging in a story stretcher to set out certain activities ahead of time and to have others prepared in advance to introduce throughout the day. I did a slight remodel of our toy/materials shelf to include some of the day's themed activities.

In the morning, I had set out this simple Flower Garden sensory bin for Table Time:

I included plastic flower pots, artificial flowers, scoops and tongs and a fluffy bed of paper grass. S LOVED planting flowers. He even went to our STEAM cart to add more flowers to the scene from another activity!

I introduced our target book at our Morning Meeting. S loves this book so much he wanted to read it twice in a row! It is a rather lengthy story so young readers may prefer a paraphrased version to reading it word for word. I also like resources like YouTube or audio books/Scholastic videos from the library for introducing children's literature. We did indeed listen to The Tiny Seed from the YouTube video posted above as we ate our lunch!

S genuinely wants to play with Y now that he is growing into more up and alert periods of the day and quite smiley and playful to boot. I have been eagerly brainstorming ways beyond our "brothers' basket" of toys to include Y in our play and learning activities. Creating a Tiny Seed Sensory Bottle seemed like a great activity to do with S that he could then share with his baby brother. I set out two plastic bottles (I bought these at a craft supply store, but you can use a recycled bottle if you have), some dry black bean "seeds" in a tall cup with a small scoop, a funnel with an opening large enough for the beans to fit through, and a collection of colorful silk flowers. I had a roll of thin duct tape with a fun floral print on hand for tightly sealing the bottles when we were done. You could use any type of duct tape or even hot glue your lid on if you wish.

S was so proud to be making sensory bottles himself and especially eager to share it with his brother...

...so eager, in fact, that delivering his gift could wait for nothing, not even a nap to be done!

The materials are quite simple, but the burst of color and the sound of the black beans as the bottles are shaken are wonderful elements to intrigue the sensory development of infants (and older siblings!).

While Y finished his nap, S and I took a Seeds We Eat Scavenger Hunt in our fridge and pantry. We looked for foods that

• have seeds on the inside (we found apples and pears, cucumbers and peppers, oranges and grapes, even frozen blueberries)
• have seeds on the outside (strawberries were a perfect candidate for this category--we had some in our freezer as well for use in smoothies)
• are seeds! (We had a snack of trail mix made from mixed nuts and seeds. We also talked about foods like beans and peas that are seeds we eat!)

Speaking of beans, transfer activities have been a longtime fine motor favorite for S--I set out this simple transfer tray and he played with it for quite a while! 

Next, it was time for a game! We played "Whose Seed Is That Anyway?"--a simple matching game I devised from recycled and laminated seed packet photos and ziplock bags of leftover seeds (ones we had from our planting earlier this season).

To play the game, I set out the pictures and held the bags of seeds. Each bag is labeled (so I know what's inside!) and one at a time, I presented a bag of seeds. Certain seeds, S recognizes quite well--like beans and peas. These are seeds that look like foods he is familiar with. I still present a series of clues with each bag, although as he familiarized with the game (and asked to play again and again!) I simplified my clues and eventually eliminated them altogether.

We had a lot of fun with The Tiny Seed story stretcher activities we did at home. Perhaps you'll try some of them in your own home or classroom. Want to do more? Here are some other play and learning activities related to The Tiny Seed:

• Plant some seeds of your own! Whether indoors or outdoors, planting seeds is a great way to take the journey in this book into your own hands and garden! You can chronicle your own seed's journey as it grows into a sprout, a plant, a flower or vegetable... Visit your seedlings often to observe and discuss their progress.

Observe a variety of seeds and photos of their mature plants. How are seeds different and how are they alike? Do big fruits and vegetables always have big seeds? What other things do you notice or wonder about seeds?

• Get crafty!

This was a cute handprint/footprint painting our local playgroup instructor did with everyone to create a sunflower painting. S loved getting his hands all painty and Y tolerated his foot being dipped in. We glued on poppy seeds and voila! 

Painting/printing with flowers is another great activity to try. We had some flowers on the wilt last year around this time and used red and yellow paint to create our own sunflower like the one on the cover of The Tiny Seed.

Aww, look at little S! He had such a great time dipping and dabbing those flowers on the paper plate that had been prepared with slits around the edge to resemble petals of a flower.

Once the paint was dry, we glued on some dry beans in the center to resemble sunflower seeds. You could certainly use actual sunflower seeds if you have them on hand!

• Get moving! Create motions or choose from Yoga poses to act out the story of The Tiny Seed!

What fun even the most familiar stories can be when we stretch our imagination and expand into a world of play and hands-on learning! Instilling a love of literacy in young readers is as simple as planting a tiny seed. Hope you enjoyed reading and playing along with us...

Happy Playing!