Science is all around us, and so are seeds! Now that it's spring, there will soon be numerous sightings of seeds and flowering plants. As a parent, you should be sure to take advantage of these teachable moments. Even if you are not a gardener, and know nothing about science, you can learn with your child through picture books and educational web sites.
Children don't usually learn about the life cycles of flowering plants until the intermediate grades (in the USA), but there is a book that offers a very nice introduction to the life cycle of a pumpkin, called From Seed to Pumpkin, by Wendy Pfeffer. It's presented in a way that will appeal to a curious preschooler or to a 4th grader who needs to understand the basics. The pictures are beautiful, and are designed in a way that reinforces the written details of the book.
While it's always best to follow up a read aloud of a book like this with a "hands on" activity, like some type of gardening related project, this book can stand alone. The pictures really make it easy for any child to understand the meaning of the book. If your child is not even in preschool yet, I would recommend that you focus on the pictures, and summarize a few of the written details in your own words. The best part is that you can continue to read this book occasionally until October, when the pumpkins are ready!
Preschool and primary grade children love to act things out, so I would also suggest having your younger child pretend to be a seed (by squatting down and gradually "growing"), and then maybe a sibling or relative could "water" the seed with a watering can, while someone else pretends to be the sun shining down on the seed. I tried this skit in a 1st grade class, and they loved it so much that they took turns being the seed! It's a way for them to understand the basic concept of a seed needing water, sunlight, and air to grow.
Another book with beautiful illustrations is The Reason for a Flower, by Ruth Heller. It has a unique, poem-like flow of words, and it goes into a lot more detail about pollen, seeds, and different types of flowering plants. This book is best for children in grades 2 through 4, since the range of concepts it covers is more advanced. Many different topics of discussion can arise from this book. Of course, the pictures will appeal to younger children as well.
Please note that there are a couple of minor inaccuracies, since this book was published over 20 years ago. For example, the mushroom shown at the end of the book is now classified as "fungi," rather than as a plant. Also, there is not
enough detail about the parts of a flower. If your child is interested, there's an educational web site that can help him or her to learn about the parts of the flower.
If your 3rd or 4th grade child seems to have an interest in learning all about seeds, Eric Carle covers the path of a seed, and the obstacles it faces, in the book, The Tiny Seed. It's a very realistic book, and brings to light the fact that some seeds never have the opportunity to grow. For that reason, I would not recommend it for younger readers.
So, if you read any of these books with your child, it'll make it easier for you to reinforce the concepts when a teachable moment comes up. A moment like this could be when your child is eating a piece of fruit and asks to plant the seeds, or when he or she sees the first flower of the season come up. Any way you can help your child to connect books with the real world is another way to promote a love of learning.
Have a wonderful first day of spring!