Photosynthesis for Preschoolers
🌱💧☀️
A multi day plan to teach preschoolers about photosynthesis, how food grows, and the importance of plants for air quality.
Day 1
Print out this book, or use a tablet to read it with your child. You can download the PDF by clicking on the slides!
I created this to help my child understand what photosynthesis is, without getting super technical.
Some of the books I purchased for “babies” that discussed the topic of photosynthesis got really detailed and tried to introduce topics such as chlorophyll and cell structure. My PK3 student is not ready for that level, so I made my own book using Canva and stuck to the basics.
Photosynthesis is how Plants make food. They take water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide (the air we breathe out) to make sugar and oxygen. That’s all we need for now, we can expand later!
I created the pages in such a way that if you print each on its own page it is easy to bind. I “bind” the books I create by just putting them in a one of those report folders that has a clear cover and a plastic slide that goes over it on the left side. You can get fancier and have it sent to a printer near you, or simpler and just staple it. We are not big on screens for education purposes, so we don’t do ebooks, but if you use a tablet to read books, that is also a great option!
Day 2
Review what you learned yesterday by using the discussion questions included in the book. Try and get your toddler to recall knowledge without you giving them the answer.
Example:
Parent: What do plants give humans?
Preschooler: I don’t know
Parent: (Open page two and point to the picture of the person breathing) What is this picture showing
Preschooler: It give us breathe?
Parent: What do we breathe?
Preschooler: ummmmm
Parent: OOOOOOOXXXXXXXX
Preschooler: Oxygen!
Parent: Right, so in a full sentence, Plants give us oxygen, that is what we breathe. Can you say that?
Preschooler: Plants give us oxygen that we breathe.
Once you have reviewed the discussion from yesterday you are going to make a plant grow.
Plants come from seeds! Grab a seed (you do not need to buy a seed. You can use a bean of any kind that is not canned, lentil, go outside and pick fruit or veggie and take a seed from that, go in the refrigerator and find a veggie or fruit with a seed. Anything that will sprout and grow will work. 😉
Supplies:
- Clear cup, container, ziplock, whatever is clear and open on one side works!
- Any dirt.
- Water
- Seed of some kind
Procedure:
- Fill the container you picked with dirt. If you chose a seed or lentil soak it in water for at least 24 hours BEFORE starting so that it will sprout.
- Push the seed you chose about a half inch into the dirt NEAR THE EDGE OF THE CONTAINER. You want to be able to see those roots as they emerge. That is why we chose a clear container and not an opaque one.
- Water the seed. If you do not have a small hole at the bottom of the container for drainage make sure to not over water or you will drown the seed and it will get root rot before it has the chance to fully sprout.
- Put your new plant near a window or in a safe place outside.
Discussion:
- Why do we add water?
- Why is it important that the plant is near the window, or outside?
Extension:
- Make 4 seedlings.
- Place one outside with a bag around it (restricting air), but make sure to water it well.
- Place one in a dark closet (restricting light) but make sure to water it well.
- Place one where you placed the first one, but never water it.
Compare how each does and talk about why some did better that others. This will reinforce that plants need CO2, Sunlight, and Water. Photosynthesis cannot happen with out all three.
Day 3
This will not actually be on the 3rd day. It will be sometime in the next few days. You will have to keep an eye out for when the roots appear.
Check out the plant. Talk about what is happening.
- What are the roots doing? Absorbing water
- What do you think will happen next? The plant will start to grow up.
- Why does the plant need to grow upwards? To get CO2 and absorb sunlight
- If you child is not familiar with absorption, you can use lotion to demonstrate how outer layers take in things from the environment through the skin barrier. You can then discuss how in the summer we get a tan due to sun absorption. Same goes fro plants. They take in sun and air through their “skin.”
Continue this procedure each day as the sprout grows into a plant. When it is all grown up you can plant it outside, or choose what to do with it from there. If you used a fruit or veggie you bought at a store, keep in mind it MAY not grow more fruits because many store bought produce contains the termination gene. If you only had to buy one bell pepper and then you could have bell pepper for life, the bell pepper producers would not like that! 😁So you will get a nice plant, but not necessarily more food.
DID YOU ENJOY THIS ACTIVITY?
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On the website you can expect:
Simple, affordable activities that promote learning through play
Ideas to encourage curiosity, creativity, and confidence
Behavior troubleshooting and learning tips
Book lists, STEM challenges, and nature-based projects
Nutrition and physical activity ideas for healthy growth
Guest posts from other parents and educators
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