PAPER PLATE SUNFLOWERS
Grade: K-2
Age: 4-8
Submitted by Karen Rowley, a teacher at St. Norbert Pre-K in Orange, Calif.
Objectives:
- To teach the parts of the flower
- To teach fine motor development
What you Need:
- paper plates
- unshelled sunflower seeds
- brown paint mixed with glue
- yellow paint
- green construction paper
- glue
- scissors
What You Do:
Bring in real sunflowers for the class to see. Children may make their own sunflowers.
This activity makes a wonderful bulletin board display and provides concrete examples of the parts of a sunflower.
- Children will paint a paper plate with yellow paint and let dry
- Children will paint the center of the paper plate with brown paint mixed with glue.
- While the paint/glue mixture is still wet, children will put unshelled sunflower. Let dry.
- Children may cut stems and leaves for their sunflowers.
We have made a variation on this activity and added the child's picture.
Add to a garden theme, a picnic theme, or science theme.
Recommended Books
From Seed to Sunflower
by Gerald Legg, Carolyn Scrace
Large illustrations and simple text present the lifecycle of a sunflower from seed to flower.
Sam Plants a Sunflower
by Kate Petty, Axel Scheffler
A Life-The-Flat Nature Book With Real Seeds
Sunflowers
by Rebecca W. Atwater Briccetti
Page after page of gorgeous photographs profile the sunflower in all its aspects.
Author Bio:
Karen Rowley was the director of the after school program at University California, Irvine for 13 years. She has worked in preschool, public school and private programs as well as Grant programs for 18 years teaching preschool through adult education. Presently Karen work at At. Norbert Catholic School as the Child Care Coordinator of the Pre-k Program and the Extended Day Care program for k-8th grade.
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