"SEEDY" STUFF

All over the country people are planting their gardens. There's still a little magic when a seed begins to sprout. I remember eating a popsicle with my older cousins when I was a preschooler. They told me if I dug a hole and put my popsicle in it then it would grow into a popsicle tree. I'm still waiting!!! I also enjoyed letting my students brainstorm different objects we could plant, like jelly beans and pennies. 

Hint! If you line a plastic up with a paper towel and fill the center with sand you can insert items and watch what happens.

The Planting Song
(Tune: “The Farmer in the Dell”
Let’s all plant some seeds, (Pretend to dig.)
Let’s all plant some seeds.
Hi, ho, it’s spring you know,
Let’s all plant some seeds.

The rain begins to fall… (Wiggle fingers down.)
The sun warms the earth…(Arms over head.)
The seeds begin to grow… (Pretend one arm is a plant.)


Growing, Growing!
What does a seed need to grow? Brainstorm with the children and write their responses on the board. Take five cups and draw the following as shown:
soil, water, sun, air
soil, water, air
soil, water, sun
soil, sun, air
sun, air, water

Plant several bean seeds in each cup. Encourage the children to predict what will happen. Observe. Evaluate predictions after several weeks.



Seed Hunt
Brainstorm different seeds that come from foods we eat, such as apples, oranges, sunflowers, avocados, popcorn... Challenge children to look in their kitchens at home and bring in seeds. Plant the seeds in clear cups and label. Place in a sunny window, water, and you might be surprised at what comes up!

SPRING ARTS AND CRAFTS

Spring Crown
Give child a sentence strip and invite them to draw signs of spring. Let them collect small objects they find on the ground, such as leaves and flowers, and glue them to the crown. Adjust to crowns to the children's heads and staple.

Popcorn Tree
(Tune: “Turkey in the Straw”)
I looked out my window (Hand over eyes.)
And what did I see?
Popcorn popping on my cherry tree. (Hands on hips.)
What a surprise spring left for me.
Popcorn popping in my cherry tree.
Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. (Wiggle hips to the beat.)
Pop! Pop! (Jump up twice.)

Sing faster…faster…super fast!

Trace around the child’s hand and arm on a sheet of paper to resemble a tree trunk. Color or paint the tree. Glue popcorn or cotton balls on the branches to look like blossoms.

Hint! If you shake popcorn in a sack with a little dry red tempera it will look like pink blossoms.


Flower Bookmark
Grow into a book with this idea! Each child will need to collect small flowers, petals, and leaves outside. (Remind them to only take things off the ground and never pull live flowers from a plant!) Give each child 2 pieces of self laminating paper cut in 8” x 2” strips. Children take the back off one sheet and place it sticky side up on the table. After they arrange their natural objects, they place the second sheet on top and seal.

Hint! You can also use wide packaging tape to make these book marks.


Rubbings and Prints
Give children a plain sheet of paper and an old crayon. Remove the paper from the crayon. Demonstrate how to place the paper on top of flat objects, such as leaves and petals and rub with the side of a crayon. 

*Have children find interesting natural objects on the playground. Dip them in paint and then press on paper to make prints.

WHERE'S MY BUNNY?

YOU'LL FIND THE CUTEST BUNNIES ON THESE NEW VIDEOS CREATED BY ALEX MAY!

Click to view

Click to view

Where Is My Bunny?

Where is my bunny? (Put hands behind your back.)
No one can see. (Shake head.)
I think that my bunny
Is hiding from me. (Look over shoulder.)
Here is my bunny. (Hold up 1 thumb.)
He’s found a friend. (Hold up other thumb.)
Look at all the others. (Slowly stick up fingers.)
Now there are ten! (Wiggle fingers.)


Here Is a Bunny

Here is a bunny (Hold up index and middle fingers.)
With ears so funny. (Wiggle fingers.)
And here is his
Hole in the ground. (Make hole with fist of the other hand.)
At the slightest noise he hears,
He pricks up his ears, (Wiggle fingers.)
Then hops to his
Hole in the ground! (Pretend to hop bunny ears into the hole.)


Bunny Ears 

Cut ears out of construction paper and glue them to a headband. You can also trace around children's feet and use them for the ears of the headband.

Bunny Basket 

Fold the sack in half lengthwise as shown. Draw ears on the sack similar to those shown. Cut on the lines and then cut off the sides. Open the sack. Staple the top points to make ears. Put a face and cotton tail on your bunny basket.

Hand Bunny 

Trace around each child’s hand and cut out. Cut off the middle finger. Fold down the pinky and thumb. Glue on a sheet of paper and add a mouth, whiskers, eyes and nose. 

EGG EXPERIMENTS

There's more to eggs than dying them!

Rubber Egg
Materials: clear jar with lid
vinegar
raw egg in its shell

1. Put a raw egg in a jar and then cover it with vinegar. Screw on the lid and set it aside for 3-5 days.
2. Observe the egg each day and describe what is happening to it.
3. After 3-5 days, the eggshell should be almost invisible. Remove the egg, rinse it off, and hold it up to the light. How does the shell feel? Hold the egg several inches from the table and drop it. Does it break?

EggStra Special
Materials: 2 clear cups
1 brown egg
1 white egg

1. Pass around the eggs for the children to gently hold and observe.
2. Discuss how the eggs are alike and how they are different.
3. Ask the children to predict if they are alike or different on the inside.
4. Break each egg into a different cup and compare.
5. How are people like the eggs? Do people look alike on the outside? Are people the same on the inside?
*They made good scrambled eggs, too!


Happy Teeth
Materials: 4 raw white eggs
4 clear cups
tea, coffee, cola, water

1. Place each egg in a different cup and cover with one of the liquids.
2. Observe the eggs for several days to see what happens.
3. Remove the eggs and encourage the children to describe what happened to each egg and why.
4. How are teeth like the eggs? What will happen to your teeth of you drink tea and coffee all the time?
*Brush the eggs gently with toothbrush and toothpaste and see what happens.


Note! Brushing the egg with toothpaste didn't work too well. I might have left the egg in the coffee too many days. Or, maybe it was the toothpaste???


What’s in an Egg?
Materials: plastic egg
small toy animal that would hatch from an egg (fish, bird, alligator, frog, spider, snake, etc.)

1. Put the toy in the egg? Let the children shake it and try and guess what it is.
2. Have them make a list of all the animals they can think of that hatch from eggs.
3. Open the egg to confirm their guess.

Natural Dyes
Did you know you could dye eggs with berries, vegetables, and spices? There are many ideas on the internet if you want to give it a try.

BUNNY JOKES

Hint! Some of your children will “get” these and some of your children will just fake laugh. This is a good opportunity to have children “think out loud” and explain the jokes to their friends.

Why did the egg go to school?
To get "Egg-u-cated".

What kind of jokes do eggs tell?
Egg yolks!

What did the mommy egg say to the baby egg?
You're "Egg-stra special".

How do eggs stay healthy?
They "Egg-cercize".

What happened to the egg when he was tickled too much?
He cracked up.

What kind of plants do eggs keep?
Eggplants

What flowers grow on faces?
Tulips (Two-lips)!

What is a bunny's motto?
Don't be mad, be hoppy!

How do you catch a unique rabbit?
Unique up on it.

How do you catch a tame rabbit?

The tame way. Unique up on it.

What is a rabbit's favorite dance style?
Hip-Hop!

Why are rabbits so lucky?
They have four rabbit's feet?

Some “bunny’s” got some knock knock jokes for you!

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Ether.
Ether who?
Ether bunny.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Justin.
Justin who?
Justin other Ether Bunny.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Notta.
Notta who?
Notta nother Ether Bunnies.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Stella.
Stella who?
Stella nother Ether bunny.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Juan.
Juan who?
Juan more Ether bunny.

Knock, knock
Who's there?
Chuck.
Chuck who?
Chuck-olate bunny!

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Dewey.
Dewey who?
Dewey have to listen to any more Ether bunny jokes?

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Some bunny.
Some bunny who?
Some bunny is eating all my Easter eggs!

Knock, knock!

Who's there?

Noah.

Noah who?

Noah body . . . April Fool's!

HIPPITY HOP AND A STORY

Flip, Flop, Hop
(Tune: “Wheels on the Bus”)
The ears on the bunny go flip, flop, flop (Hands over head and wiggle.)
Flip, flop, flop,
Flip, flop, flop.
The ears on the bunny go flip, flop, flop,
Flip, flip, flop.

The nose on the bunny goes twitch, twitch, twitch… (Wiggle nose.)

The eyes on the bunny go blink, blink, blink… (Blink eyes.)

The tail on the bunny goes wiggle, wobble, wobble… (Wiggle hips.)

The feet on the bunny go hop, hop, hop… (Hop up and down.)

Drawing Rabbits

Teach children how to draw a simple bunny from two circles. Add detail to the bunny as you sing the song.
*You can also make bunnies out of play dough.

Handprint Bunny



Trace around children's hands and cut them out. Cut off the middle finger and bring the pinky finger and thumb finger down to make arms as shown. Decorate and there's your bunny!

Milk Jug Bunny 

Ask parents to send in clean milk jugs. Cut the top off as shown. Add ears and a bunny’s face. Place a small amount of dirt in the bottom of the milk jug and sprinkle with grass seed. Water and place in a sunny window. If you start this project soon you will have an adorable bunny with green hair! Otherwise, you can just put Easter grass inside.


A Bunny Tale (Tell and Draw Story)
1. One day a man went walking with his arms behind his back.
2. It started to snow.
3. He got a sled so he could play in the snow.
4. But after awhile he got cold and decided to build himself a house with two stories.
5. He put two windows in the top floor and divided them in half.
6. Then he built two chimneys.
7. He threw some sticks on the fire.
8. And soon he was snug as a bunny.

EGG-STRA, EGG-STRA!

WOW!  How many ways can you use plastic eggs in your classroom ?

Write an upper case letter on one half with a permanent marker and the lower case letter on the other half.
*Children can match letters. They can also write words or draw pictures of things that begin with that sound and put them in the egg.

Write onsets (consonants or blends) on one half and rimes (word endings) on the other half. Children twist around and read words. You could also ask children to write the words.

Practice making and reading two letter words by writing a letter on each half. Ask children to write the words or use them in a sentence.

Write numerals or number words on the eggs. Children fill with the appropriate amount of beans or paper clips.
Can they write all the different ways they can make five?

Make compound words with eggs.

Let children draw pictures of all the animals that come from eggs.

Write a poem about spring on a small sheet of paper. Fold it up and put it in the egg.

Practice addition and subtraction with eggs.

Write sight words or spelling words on the eggs. Write the same word on a 1” x 4” sheet of paper and cut between the letters to make a puzzle. Place puzzle pieces in the egg. Children shake and then open and put the pieces together to make the word.
*You can also put random letters in the egg and ask children to see how many words they can make and write from the letters.

Hint! I have tried both Sharpies and permanent markers and they rub off. I would suggest just putting clear tape on top of the marker.