Welcome to our digital Stories & Crafts for preschoolers. The storytimes will include a story and a rhyme or fingerplay. This week’s theme is gardens. Let’s dig in!
Make a Silly Face Planter
Supplies
- White paper cup or plant pot you can draw on
- Markers or crayons
- Handful of grass seed
- Potting soil
- Water
Directions
Decorate the cup
Let your child draw a face on the paper cup. Drawing is great practice for the day they will WRITE their name. Early scribbles today develop eye-hand coordination and strength in little fingers for tomorrow.
Fill the cup with soil
Leave room to add seeds. TALK with your child about how the soil feels. Is it cool or warm, wet or dry, black or brown? If they say it feels wet, add to their vocabulary by agreeing, “Yes, it feels moist and soft, doesn’t it?”
Add grass seed to the soil
Allow your child to sprinkle some seeds and water on the soil. Pretend to be a growing seed with your child. PLAY gives children a chance to put thoughts into words. They’ll learn language and literacy skills as they play.
Frequently water seeds and put them in a window to grow
Check the seeds often with your child. Let them add a little water as needed. Share their excitement as sprouts emerge. While you wait for the seeds to grow, READ a book about gardens. We suggest Up in the Garden, Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner.
Give your planter a haircut
Using scissors to trim the grass is silly fun and develops fine motor skills for writing. SING a silly hair cut song, even if you have to make it up. Singing is a great way for kids to learn new words and information.
More Fun
Garden Crafts and Activities
Make a coffee filter butterfly
Sing One Seed with Laurie Berkner
Books About Gardens
Fun Printable Activities
We know your little ones are growing in all kinds of amazing ways. Plant these seeds, nurture their minds and watch them bloom! We’ll post two new Stories & Crafts each week, enjoy them all!
Marlana Hodgkinson
Marlana is a youth services specialist who has worked in the Kids Library for the last 15 years. She enjoys creating and learning with kids of all ages. Her favorite books all have strong heroines, dragons, and magic. When not at the library, you can often find her riding her trusty bicycle, hiking with her dog Lily, playing board games with her family, or reading another great book.