Spring is here, bringing beautiful flowers with it. Your children would love to take a break from their studies to smell the roses. With these STEM activities for preschoolers, elementary students, and middle schoolers, they can smell the roses, and make them their studies!
Science terms: observation, experiment, and engineer
- The authors of these activities have some brilliant ideas for learning with flowers, but in some of the articles the terms get a little sloppy. Science is anytime you're studying the physical world, so all of these fun flower activities fit. Observation is a vital science skill that often goes without recognition. Anytime you're simply watching or smelling you are observing. Don't cut this important skill short.
- Sometimes observation activities are called experiments. An activity is only an experiment if you are testing one idea versus another one in order to answer a question. But, just because an activity isn't an experiment doesn't mean it isn't great science.
- Engineering projects are also sometimes called experiments. If you're building, or manipulating in order to get a specific result, you're engineering.
- The following list has observation, experimental, and engineering activities for every age. You'll even find some good books to build your child's literature skills along the way. Spend some time on all three skills for a wonderful well rounded lesson.
Preschool flower learning activities
- Mark Making -Thriving STEM
- Nature journal exploration - Cutting Tiny Bites
- Flower Lab - No Time for Flash Cards
- Flower Sensory Bin - Little Bins for Little Hands
- Flower observation - Science Sparks
- Terrarium - Teaching 2 and 3 year-olds
- Out door flower garden - Thriving STEM
Elementary flower study activities
- Print making- Housing a forest
- Watercolor paint - Learn Play Imagine
- Color Daisies - Go Science Girls
- Fragrance Observation - Teach Mama
- Observe plant growth with Bulbs - Buggy and Buddy
- Parts of a Flower - KCEdventures
- Pollination Simulation - JDaniel's Mom
- Grow a butterfly garden - Share it Science News
- Grow a Bee garden- The Untrained Housewife
- Flower Books - Fantastic Fun and Learning
- Flower Parts Flip Book (freebie)
Middle School STEM with flowers
- Flower chromatography - Coffee Cups and Crayons
- Glowing flowers - Fun at Home with Kids
- Model Dandelions - Science Sparks
- Flower petal beads - Felt Magnet
Flower Activities
Happy spring, and Happy flower STEM learning!
Christy McGuire is a former AP physics teacher, and current mother of 4. She and her children enjoy exploring science and math together. Head over to Thriving STEM to find more science, technology, engineering and math ideas to use with your kids. Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.
