Spring!

Recommended Books

And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano.  New York, NY:  Roaring Brook Press, 2012.

Brown is all around, and the illustrations and simple text portray a boy eagerly waiting for the spring green to arrive.  The boy waits week after week for his seedlings to sprout, until one day…  green!

I See Spring by Charles Ghigna.  Mankato, MN:  Picture Window Books, 2012.

Bold colors and simple text describe all the things you see in spring, from raindrops falling to blue birds riding the breeze.

Flannelboard

Little Seed

(Pieces needed:  seed, watering can, sun, green stem and leaves, flower top.)

We plant a little seed, (put seed in ground)

and we add a little water. (add watering can)

The sun shines bright, (add sun)

and the ground gets hotter.

Soon the seed sprouts,

and the green leaves rise. (add stem and leaves)

Out pops the flower, (add flower top)

what a beautiful surprise!

Rhymes, Songs, and Bounces

Spring is in the Air

Green grass beneath us, (look down)

Blue skies above, (look up)

Warm air all around us, (turn in circle with arms our)

I feel the love! (get a hug from caretaker or wrap arms around yourself)

Traditional rhyme

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells, and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

Craft

Cupcake Wrapper Flowers

Create your own garden of cupcake wrappers.

(Supplies needed: construction paper, cupcake wrappers in a variety of colors, pom-poms, crayons, and glue.)

1. Give each child a piece of construction paper, 2 or 3 cupcake wrappers, a few small colorful pom-poms, crayons, and glue.
2. Have the children create a garden scene.  Encourage them to color the sky, dirt, and stem of plants.
3. At the top of the stem, have them glue cupcake wrappers or pom-poms to create a flower.  A pom-pom can also be placed inside of a cupcake wrapper.