Tips for Gardening with Children

There is one huge piece we haven't discussed, why this garden project is so important and how it came to be.  We work with lower income families, families in generational poverty, families in situational poverty, and one of the brain storm ideas we had in supporting healthy foods and meals was a community garden.  Not only are we teaching children about how to tend and care for something, how to grow, where food comes from, and take pride, but also the lesson on how to sustain your own existence.   It is an absolute joy to see families eating food that they have grown and harvested. So, this project has more meaning than just in class project.

We came across a great list of tips when gardening with children and how to keep their interest high.

o  Start gardening with children when they are young and curious.  Preschoolers can and do have success and fun growing a garden.

o  When working with younger children and trying to keep their interest don’t overwhelming them, take breaks and use simple language.

o  Make it FUN!!!  Don’t make it a chore.

o  Clearly define expectations.

o  When explaining gardening techniques and information use books, visuals, puppets, skits, pictures, and props.  Make it FUN!

o  Encourage questions and help find the answers.

o  Don’t project your expectation.  A single carrot or tomato is a success!

o  Involve children and their ideas.  Ownership is important.

o  Make it FUN!

o  For very young children keep a simple garden plot and grow plants that grow quick.  Allow each child to attend to their own plants.

o  Plant crops according to your planting zone.  Experimenting is fun too but make you talk about how sometimes experiments work and sometimes they don’t.  Treat even dead or diseased plants as a success. Use it as an opportunity for a teachable moment. This is all part of the planting process.

o  Don’t assume that they understand gardening concepts.  Teach everything.  Make it FUN!

o  One of the main reason’s we garden is to eat what we grow.  Do cooking projects with your harvest, have the school lunch made from the harvest or make a classroom cookbook.

o  Capitalize on what children like to do or share what they know with other people.  Young children love to be helpful.

o  Field Trips to local farms.

o  HAVE FUN!!!! J

Poisonous Plants

It's important to research which plants are poisonous to humans as well as animals. Here is a short list of some common plants.  Also, check the links below for more complete lists.

POISONOUS PLANTS

LABURNUM: are small deciduous trees with bright yellow pea-shaped flowers. The flowers are highly toxic if ingested.

YEW (Taxus): small evergreen trees or shrubs of rounded habit, with dark-green needle leaves and fleshy red berry-like seedpods (on the female plant). Most parts, but especially the seeds are highly toxic if ingested.

HOLLY (Ilex): deciduous or evergreen bushes and trees with often spiny leaves, small flowers and berries (female plants). The berries can cause stomach upset.

OLEANDER (Nerium): evergreen shrub clusters of funnel-shaped flowers, followed by long, bean-like seed-pods. The whole plant is highly toxic and skin contact with the foliage can irritate.

IVY (Hedera Helix): evergreen climbing shrubs, with small flowers and often black berries. All parts can cause stomach upsets and skin contact with foliage can irritate.

COMMON BOX (Buxus): evergreen shrub or small tree with clusters of small yellow flowers and pale green or brown berry-like fruit. All parts can cause stomach upset and skin contact with foliage can irritate.

PRIVET (Ligustrum): either deciduous or evergreen bush or small tree, often used as hedging around gardens. Small flowers in spring or summer, and dark berries in the autumn. All parts can cause stomach upset if eaten.

HORSE CHESTNUT (Aesculus): deciduous tree which produces the conkers we all like to play with. The conkers though are toxic and can cause stomach upset. Not to be confused with the rather similar looking edible chestnuts!

RHODODENDRON also known as AZALEA: deciduous or evergreen shrubs, often grown in borders or as flowering specimens due to the large number of beautiful flowers. The whole plant is toxic and can cause stomach upsets and even difficulty breathing and comas if ingested.

POISONOUS VEGIES & FRUITS

While these are not poisonous plants as such - after all, we are encouraged to eat at least five portions of fruit and veg each day - certain parts of them can be toxic.

Remember: any unripe fruit or vegetable can cause stomach upset and generally affect the gastrointestinal system.

APPLE: the seeds/pips are toxic, containing cyanide.

APRICOT: the kernel, which looks a bit like an almond, also contains cyanide, and children have died as a result of eating a few of them. However, they do taste very bitter, so most children - if they even try eating a kernel - will be put off by the taste.

RHUBARB: while the stems are used for all sorts from jam to wine, the leaves are highly toxic.

POTATOE: unripe or green potatoes are toxic, as is the foliage. Hence the need to store potatoes in the dark and cut out any parts which are green before cooking.

TOMATO: the unripe fruit of the tomato plant can cause stomach problems, while the stems and foliage often irritate the skin.

STRAWBERRY: a number of people develop allergic reactions to strawberries.

BRASSILICA: these are vegetables such as cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, etc. A number of people find them indigestible and develop allergic reactions to them. If your child really doesn't like sprouts, there might be a valid reason for it!

While a number of these 'poisonous plants' can and do at times cause serious health complications and even death, the majority don't have such drastic effects or have to be eaten in large quantities before they do much damage. However, it is best to be aware of any possible toxic effect a plant may have, especially when considering planting up gardens for young children. Don't let this list put you off eating apples!

POISONOUS FLOWERS

LILY OF THE VALLEY (Convallaria): Beautiful dark green plants with white bell-shaped flowers, often seen growing wild in woodland. The whole plant is highly toxic if ingested.

DAFFODIL (Narcissus): the stems but especially the bulbs can cause stomach upset.

FOXGLOVE (Digitalis): the whole plant including flower is highly toxic and can affect the cardiovascular system as well as the gastrointestinal system.

HYACINTH (Hyacinthus): as with the daffodil, the bulb can cause stomach upset and generally affects the gastrointestinal system. Note that the BLUE BELL are also in the same family.

BUTTERCUP: the milky-white juice in the stems of the buttercup can cause damage to the gastrointestinal system and also irritate the skin.

IRIS (Iridaceae): the whole plant can cause stomach upset and discomfort, but the tubers in particular affect the gastrointestinal system.

DEADLY NIGHTSHADE (Atropa): the whole plant is very toxic.

Worm Project

We also added a worm project because children LOVE worms and worms do wonderful things for the garden.  Worm composting is a fun and interesting way to make compost.   Good compost is vital for a healthy garden.  Check out the books and links down at the bottom of the page we that talk about worm composting. Enjoy!!!  Special thanks to Daniela for spearheading the worm project.

           

Phase I: Beginning the project

I have selected earthworms as the topic for the project to go allow with grandten project.

The reason that have brought a worm unit into classroom because student wanted know about worms and were digging in the dirt as this children are discover their environments while children are playing outdoors. We began the project by putting out a variety of books in both English and Spanish and materials related worms to engage the interest of the children. The teacher that work with have asked them to tell me what they see or had seen in earlier observations of the worms. These were a few of the comments they made:

What do you know about worm?

v Namely: “You get them dirt”.

v Brian: “They sleep in the dirt and in the water.”

v Jacquelyn: “They swim in the water and in the ground.”

v Jada: “ They have friends.”

v Genesis: “They crawl.”

v Kevin: “ Some people cook them to eat them.”

v Leaya: “ They wiggle when they move.”

v Anna: “ Worms like to hide and dig.”

v Jamie: “ They don’t have arms and legs.”

v Jasmine: “ Worms are brow-pink color.

After a discussion with the children about how worms would make a good topic for them to study, they talk how they could learn about worms. We soon realized that the children had limited prior knowledge of the topic. The teacher as a facilitator and me help them to come up with a list of questions they would like to investigate.

What you don’t know about worms?

What are worms?

What do worms eat?

Where do worms live?

How big are worms?

What do worms do?

Do worms play?

How long do worms live?

Are there different color worms?

 After the classroom teacher of morning wrote these questions on a poster board which the teacher and I displayed in the classroom. The class time was “Skill Practices or Small Groups” time at the tables. Then next day children made some drawing of what they worms would look like. These questions created by teacher and the children helped focus the learning experience in a possible study of worms that I planned. Determine how content and process skills could be learned.

Mathematics

v Compare sizes and lengths of worms

v Guess the number of worms and then count them

v Talk about the pattern of the worms skin

Science

v Use a magnifying glass to watch how worms move, straws

v Compare different kind of worms

v Observe worm hatched

v Make a worm farm

v Soil Examination

v Since earthworm respond to vibrations, play instruments and watch them do a dance called the “Earthworm Wiggle.”

Social Studies

v Find out how worms help us

v Create a worm composting pile, adding leftover food from meals

v Learn how to take care for worms

v Make an exploration on the playground where kids could find worms

v Send notes home to families about the new study of worms and encourage them to think of ways in which they might become involved in the study

Art

v Use clay to make a representation of a worm

v Pour a puddle of colored water or mud on paper and let a worm crawl through it, creating worm tracks

v Create a photo album of the Worm Project

v Make observational drawing and paintings of worms inside and outside of the classroom

v Create a journal to record worm anecdotes and observations called, “All about Worms.”

Music, Movement, and Dance

v Listen to the song, Glow Worm,” and move around the circle area like a worm

v Singing a worm welcome compost song, sung to the tune of the Hokey Pokey, “ The Compost Song.”

Literacy

v Look at informational books about worms: Earthworms by Dorothy C. Hogner, Caterpillars, Bugs, and Butterflies by Mel Boring

v Read storybooks about worms: Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni

There is Hair in my Dirt, A Worm Story by Gary Larson

Worm by Jill Bailey

Diary of a Worm, by Doreen Cronin

Compost, by Gosh! By Michelle Postman

Pee Wee’s Great Adventure, “ A Guide to Vermicomposting” by Larraine Roulston 

Butterfly by Mariposa by Susan Canizares (bilingual)

Little Rabbit Foo Foo by Michael Rosen and Arthur Robins

I am a Caterpillar by Jean Marzollo

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (English and Spanish)

After exploring and telling with the children about worms, we were confused where the mouth and the tail were. I found a worm map that describes how we could identify the body part. We keep the labeled diagram at the art able table for reference.

   

           

Labeled parts of the earthworm

How an earthworm is born

 Phase II: Investigation and Representation

On the second day, during phase two, I had the worm farm in classroom while choose time so that children could look and see if they seen anything different in the plastic canter that held the worms inside. When it was night would cover the plastic canter with a black paper because worm like dark. When you take the black paper off you could see the tails that worms have made. What we feed the worms were mixture of rich soil, newspaper, and potato skins. It provides the children with opportunities for exploration where I could document their observation and findings.

Then children saw the difference in that the worms were able to hide in the soil and that they were able to burrow deep into the soil. The children were able to decide on their own that the worms used their mouths to dig. On the other side of the spectrum, when we put the worms into the water, they were able to see how they swim and move in the water. Later, in the afternoon, the teacher was able to show them to an area where they were ale to dig and find even more worms to add to the project. We kept track of the days on a chart. We responded to the children’s questions by providing them with classroom experience. The next week we changed the soil to create a composting pile, adding left over food from meals and then we added more newspaper and different kinds of food like eggs shells, onionskins, carrots, bread, celery, peaches, pears, and leaves. This compost was made in bigger plastic bin with a lid.

What children from feed farm of worms:

v Jamie: the eat potatoes, leaves and grass

v Gensis: Tomatoes

v Nather: Apples

v Keith: Eggs shells and celery

v Avanna: Apricots

The type food that we used to feed our worms was leftover foods that were going to turn into composting. The student asked if could feed to the worms and just we did. When we were outdoors, we measured the worms, and the children discovered how long the worms can grow. The children also discovered that when they touched the other end, it got bigger and expanded. We counted the worms that we had in the compost, and we ended with twenty-seven worms. Children also traced the outline of the worm with markers.

What do the worms look like?

v Rayn: They look like snake.

     

How do the worms move?

v Anna: They wiggle and crawl.

Phase III: Concluding the Project

Birth of the compost song:

As our worm project was winding down, we were able to motivate the children with a song that helped the students who have different learning styles. Each child had an instrument and we sang to the tune of “the hokey pokey.” Here are the words:

You put your wet green in.

You spread your dry browns out,

You add a little water and you stir it all about

You invite all your bug friends

To have a two-month feast,

Then shovel your compost out

Phase IV:

Culminating experience

During our project, the children have learning many areas as in mathematics, science, social studies, art and music, movement and dance. They have experienced these all within different areas of learning.  In the worm project, the children have been helping putting information in their journals. These observations written in the journals were a tool that we were able to use to develop the topic and have the ability to put all of the information together once we were finished with the project. The art they had made throughout the project: posters, stories, paintings and all of this, art was displayed in the classroom. We also had information from all of the parents and guardians were sent a note about the new worm study. Parents will also be invited to an “open house “ once the project reaches its full culmination. The parents will have the opportunity to see their child’s work throughout the project. We also had a fun day were took children on a walk of the neighborhood experience nature and see the different things that the worms do in the world. Each student will be able to see that the different things around the community that grow all contribute to the miraculous cycle that the worms take part in. 

Month-to-Month Garden To Do List

Here is a year month-to-month garden to do list that we have come up with. It is important to look up and understand what your planting zone.   Check out the National Gardening Associations Planting Zone website, it can be very helpful in understanding what to plant and where.  Every planting zone should be looked at before you start to plant.

http://www.garden.org/zipzone/

You'll notice the roses on the list.  The story behind this is that we went on a field trip to a Rose Garden and the children in the classroom enjoyed it so much that they wanted to plant roses like the garden they visited.

Garden To Do:

January-          Weed (Families)

                        Clean up beds around roses, remove all old leaves on roses (Families)

                        Roses: Fertilize with environmentally safe  (Parent or Teacher)

Feburary-         Prune:  (Early) fruit trees, grape vine (end of month) roses, clematis cut for forcing: Lilac, quince (Late Feb)-(Families)

                        Divide and transplant asparagus (Families)

                        Plant new trees (Families)

                        Plant for starts: Broccoli, Cabbage, Lettuce, Spinach, and Cauliflower

                        Mid to end of month: peas (soil 45-50 degrees), spinach, radishes, and flowers seeds (breadseed poppies, alyssum)-(Families)

                         

March-            Make Garden Map (Teacher & Families)

                        Cut cover crop: compost tops, chop roots (do not dig in until soil fairly dry) (Teacher & Families)

                        March 1 Fertilize roses (Rose food, Epson salts, alfalfa), spray- (Parents & Teachers)

                        March 15 Fish oil on roses, spray- (Teacher & Families)

                        Plant: Broccoli starts & seeds, cabbage starts, lettuce, spinach, potatoes, dahlias. (Teachers & Families)

April-               Plant: cauliflower, carrots, impatiens, beets, radishes, scallions, more spinach (summer varieties), lettuce, chard, sunflowers (thin volunteers)

                        Roses: 1^st spray for black spot, 15^th fertilize- (Teacher & Families)

                        Plant new berry bushes

May-                Plant: more carrots, lettuce, beets, radishes, and chard

May 15^th-        Plant: seeds of beans, summer and winter squash, pumpkins, corn, cucumbers, annual flowers (Teacher & Families)

                        Starts of cucumbers, tomatoes, basil (protect with mild jug warmers)

                        Roses: 1^st fish oil spray            15^th: Fish oil spray (Teacher & Parents)

                       

June-               Plant: starts of peppers, melons, eggplant (protect with covers or milk jugs) (Teacher & Families)

                        Seeds: more sunflowers, more beans (Teacher & Families)

                        Harvest; (Teacher & Families)

                        Roses: 1^st fertilize spray            15^th: Fish oil spray (Teachers & Parents)

July-                Plant: beets, broccoli, bush beans, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, peas, radishes, spinach for fall harvest (Teacher & Families)

                        Harvest: Garlic July 4 (Teacher & Families)

                        Roses: 1^st fertilize spray            15^th: Fish oil spray (Teacher & Parents)

August-            Plant: Loose leaf lettuce (before the 15^th, cauliflower by 8/1/ for harvest next Spring (Families)

                        Harvest  (Families)

                        Roses: 1^st fertilize, spray.  Cold water spray for spider mites. (Teachers & Parents)

September-      Plant: Garlice, shallots, endive, corn salad. (Families)

                        Harvest (Families)

                        Clean up (Teacher & Families)

October-          Plant: Cover Crops  (Teacher & Families)

                        Harvest (Families & Teachers)

                        Cut roses back to tidy (to 40” for hybrid teas)  (Teachers & Parents)

                        Clean up and mulch, build compost pile  (Teachers & Families)

                        Set up green house

November-      Final Harvest, clean up, mulch (Teacher & Families)

                        Clean up: hoses and garden tools  (Teacher & Families)

December-      Cover faucets  (Teachers & Families)

                        Leaf pile delivery  (Teachers)

                        Roses: dormant spray (Teachers & Parents)

Our Gardening Project

The catalyst to this Blog started from a class project.  Listed below is a brief explanation of what the class project looks like.  This gives us a script, as teachers, on how to focus our curriculum around gardening.  The beginning of this projects started with sitting down with a classroom of preschoolers and "webbing" around gardening.  A special thanks goes out to LouAnn for spear heading The Gardening Project. 

The Gardening Project 

Phase I ~ Introduction

We started with open ended questions to our children.  (Preschool to Kindergarten age.)

What do you know about gardening?  Does your family grow a garden? What do you like best grown from a garden?  What do you want to learn about gardening? 

Experience Stories ~ Children will create journal of their gardening experiences from the being to the end with stories and pictures.  One each for Spring, Summer and Fall

The children voted on what they want to grow.  They voted on green beans, broccoli, sweet potatoes and strawberries.

            Earth Worms ~ One boy brought in some earth worms he had found in the dirt.  “Yes, that is important in gardening because it promote good soil for vegetables and fruit to grow!” (This built up his self-esteem with his input for our gardening project…just a little plus.. :)

Parent involvement ~ When we discussed our gardening project with parents, we had parents who wanted to volunteer.  We had a parent who said he had a neglected strawberry patch that needed a little TLC. (His patch was near the school.)  Also they volunteered to donate posts and wires for the pole beans.)

Activities ~ As the project develops, the teachers apply inspiring activities to promote this project in their lesson plans.

Social/Emotional ~Taking votes of what to grow. We used a graph to demonstrate how voting works. Children will create a map to where the plants will be planted.

Science project ~ The children will put a lima bean in a small piece of paper towel, then moisten the towel with water and wrap it around the seed.  Place it in a sandwich size plastic bag and staple it to a wall that has good lighting.

Art ~ Vegetable and fruit prints.  Cut vegetables and fruits crosswise.  Provide trays with tempera paints and large pieces of paper for children to experiment with the different impressions the prints make.

                           

Story ~ The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss

Fieldtrip ~ Neighborhood walk to the neglected strawberry patch.  The children learn about weeds and how they must be pulled out in order for plants to survive. 

Gross Motor ~ Have the children crawl through tunnels as if they were a worm.  Children pull weeds from between the plants in the strawberry patch.

Cognitive ~ Learn what is the difference between a weed and a plant. Sorting fruits and vegetables with photos or real fruits and vegetables.

Vocabulary Words ~ seed, stem, leaves, roots, blossoms, weeds, earth worms, rotor till, garden plant placement (mapping) and the difference between fruits and vegetables.

Phase II ~ Spring planting (visiting experts)                       

We will plan a fieldtrip to a local nursery to help plan our garden.  They will give us information about what to grow in our area.  With the children voting of what they wanted to grow, let’s see if it’s a good idea or not.

            Fieldtrip to the Greenhouse ~ We advised the gardener of our choices.  She went forth with our choices and said the children made excellent choices. (Big green thumbs up)  We purchased pole green bean starts, broccoli and sweet potatoes.  Since the father that volunteers his well established strawberry patch, we decided to adopt his neglected strawberry patch as our fruit.

            Volunteer gardeners ~ One father said he would rotortil the garden space.  Then they placed the posts and wires for the children to grow their pole beans.  They provided hoes and other tools to help the children to put their plants in place. (With a little prompting from the children, the volunteers followed their planning map they had made prior.)  He made ditches for the broccoli and sweet potatoes to be planted.

Activities ~ As the project develops, the teachers apply inspiring activities to promote this project in their lesson plans.

Social/Emotional ~ Working with your group.  Green bean group, adopted strawberry patch group, sweet potatoes hills group, the forest of broccoli trees group and Johnny Appleseed’s tree group.

Science project  ~ Put a sweet potato in a clear container and place it in a window.  Teachers will bring the potato to their attention as the potato begins to sprout, showing spider like roots and later leaves. This is a great large group activity.

Art ~ Children will create their own person/animal/monster…wherever their creative minds take them to on the side of an empty Styrofoam cup. After filling their cup with soil, they will place grass seed in the cup and cover it with soil, then water.  After a few days in a well lighted  window, the grass will grow long enough that they can give their creation a hair cut!

Story ~ “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carlson

Fieldtrip ~ Walking to a local yard with our Johnny Appleseed tree and taking pictures of the blossoms for our spring journal.  Walking to check on the adopted strawberry patch.

Cognitive ~ How does weather temperatures effect the germination of our seeds and how plants grow.

Gross Motor/Fine Motor ~ Children will place green bean starts in rows by the poles and wire.  Dig mounds for the sweet potatoes and broccoli.

For a small group activity, show them how to put a lima bean in a wet paper towel, and then place in a plastic sandwich bag (marked with their name).  Staple it to a wall that is well lighted and they will see how the germinating process work in producing a plant from a seed.

Cooking project ~ Washing and cutting fresh broccoli. (Talk about how it looks like little trees.)  Served later with their lunch and a dip. (Ranch dressing is the favorite.)

Music ~ “Popcorn popping on my apple tree” (meaning the blossoms) by unknown

Vocabulary words ~ Weather, frost, full moon, temperatures, sunlight, soil, fertilizer, irrigation, germinating, parts of the plant, (roots, stem, leaves and blossoms).

Phase III ~ Summer months

The green beans will have sprouted and the runners have grown long enough, that the green bean group will learn how to help, in order to produce a crop.  The broccoli is still growing. Johnny Appleseed group is taking pictures of the progress of the tree and writing experience story of what has happened in the spring months compared to now.

Parent Involment  ~ Make a list of volunteers that are going to come to water and weed garden while school is out.  Make a check off chart for what needs to be done and name of helpers.

Activities ~

Social/Emotional ~ When the weather gets warm.  The irrigation group will need to kick in and volunteers need to be on top of the weeding that’s needs to be done.  Also learning to be watchful of any bug problems or leaf feeders and hungry rabbits.

Fine/Gross Motor ~ Children will be picking and snapping green beans, as well as picking ripe fruit from the strawberry patch. 

Cooking project ~ After washing snapped green beans.  Beans will be cooked in a crock pot and ate with their lunch.

Cognitive ~ Freezing and canning process.  Children will learn how food is prepared for storage. Math concepts (factions) snapping the bean in halves, thirds and fourths.

Science project ~ ladybug kit.  The children will watch how a ladybug hatches and why it is so helpful to roses.

Music/literacy ~ The hopping song and little bunny foo foo. 

Book, “The Giant Strawberry” by Meiko S. Patton

Fieldtrip ~ The children will visit the adopted strawberry patch with containers and pick the ripe strawberries and have fresh strawberries for snack.  Another planned activity is to walk to the local apple tree for their summer journal.

Vocabulary ~  Insects, aphides, grasshopper, ladybugs, beetles, earwigs, leaf feeders, ripe, irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticides, and organic.

Phase IV ~ Fall months

This time of the growing season the green beans have stopped producing as well as the strawberries.  Children will be focused on their broccoli and apple harvest.

                                                            

                                          

Activities ~

Fieldtrip ~ Walking to the local apple tree, pick up apples and take pictures.  Walk to adopted strawberries patch and cover with fallen leaves for mulch and protection during dormancy.

Gross/Fine Motor ~ Picking up apples, raking leaves, pulling up bean stocks. 

Cognitive ~ Children will learn about how the plants and trees will go into a stage called dormancy during the colder months

Science ~ After harvesting broccoli, children will place broccoli in a large bowl of salt water.  When they come back to check on the broccoli, they see small green worms floating on surface, especially if the broccoli has been grown organically.  Asked questions about what just happened.

How did the worms get on the plants?

Why couldn’t we see them?

Is the broccoli safe to eat?

Are these good worms like the earthworm?

Cooking project ~ Apple Pizza

Take a ½ piece of English muffin spread with softened butter then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  Place thinly sliced apples on muffin and sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese on top.  Place in oven at 375˚ for 15 mins.  It is a great afternoon snack!

Music/literacy ~ Song, Johnny Appleseed.

“Little Bear’s Star” (it’s about a little bears goes through an adventurous hunt his mother had sent him on.  He had to solve this riddle).  “Go out and find a house that is red all over, has no windows, has no doors, has a a chimney on top and a star in the middle”.  Through his journey he wonders in a apple orchard to solve this riddle.  He found a worm chewing on a big red apple.  It was a house for the worm.  It was red all over. It had no windows or doors.  The stem on the top of the apple resembled a chimney and if you slice the apple crossways through the middle, you will discover a star shaped design in the center around the seeds. The children are always so impressed.

This story was made up.  I used several animals that the little bear would talk to, to help him solve the riddle.  He talked with a pig, frog, mouse, etc.  Finally the wise owl suggested that he talked with the worm in the apple orchard.  You could use puppets or flannel pictures and use as a flannel story.

Book ~ “The Giving Tree”, by Shel Silverstein

Art ~ Apple prints

Put tempera paint in shallow trays.  Provide apples that have been cut crosswise down the middle.  Children dip apple in paint, then press onto paper.  You can see the star shape!  It is so cool.

 Vocabulary ~ harvest, riddle, mulch, and the four seasons Spring, Summer, Fall and why we don’t grow things in the Winter, especially if you live in Eastern Oregon.