We had a very busy
afternoon with a flower theme at Spout Yard on Sunday 17th February.
We began the
afternoon asking the twelve children (all girls) to write down the name of a
flower for each letter of the alphabet.
We talked about
the importance of plants in the world. How they provided food for animals and
people. How they attracted pollinators.
We had a short walk in Spout Yard park to look for any
flowers. We saw snowdrops and an early primrose. We looked at the wild flower plots
that had been seeded last year by some of the group. Several plants were already appearing.
We went back into
the gallery and looked closely at some flowers, using magnifiers to see the
different parts.
The children then
made their own flowers. They each painted a template for flower sepals and petals. A
ball of Plasticine was added to a stick to represent the receptacle on a flower
stalk.
The sepals and
petals were then added. A ball of Plasticine
was added to represent the ovary. Pipe
cleaners were used for the stamens. A small ball of Plasticine was placed on
the top of the stick to represent the stigma on top of the style. The results was
several pretty flowers.
The next activity
was for the children to make seed balls from a mixture of compost, flour, water
and flower seeds. The mixture was squeezed into balls which were then placed on
a decorated plate to take home.
The children enjoyed
refreshments of juice and biscuits which had been supplied by Northgate Coop.
