Veggies and a Little Science

This week we will be exploring the letter Vv. I thought it would be another 2 letter week, I mean what could we do with the letter V?? Apparently a lot!! We are starting out with Veggies or Vegetables, depending on what you call them at your house. We read Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert, which is a really great book. The pictures in it are amazing and the vocabulary the kids are introduced to is perfect for all age levels. After we read our book, I took a tray (that had been covered) and asked the kids what they thought might be under the paper towel. Most saw an apple peeking out, so it wasn't to hard to guess that it was, "food," "apples," and "fruit." When I uncovered the tray, there was a lot of OOHHH & AHHHing... I guess it is a treat to see real fruit and vegetables in the playroom. We talked about what we saw, naming each fruit and vegetable. We then got to pass each one around, smelling it, touching it, and looking at it. We then compared the group first by similarities and then differences. Then we sorted them into the 2 categories... Fruits & Vegetables.

It was a real treat to see the kids take the tray off the shelf many times to sort and categorize the fruit and vegetables. Though I think I might have to put them in the fridge soon.

During one of my searches on the Internet, I found this experiment with celery and food coloring. I have done it with carnations, but never celery before, so I was excited to give it a try. The kids and I talked about how plants, specifically veggies, grow. Which led to getting enough water. We talked about what we do when we are thirsty, Drink Water, and how drinking water keeps us healthy and growing. Then we tied it into the celery and that I bet the celery needed to "drink" water to grow.

Each child got to help pour the water, put in the food coloring, and select a stalk of celery and stir the water up. After each stalk was positioned exactly like some of them wanted them to be, we waited. And waited, and waited... waiting is hard for toddlers and preschoolers :)

We have kept a close watch on our celery stalks, but no real progress yet. We are hoping after nap to catch a glimpse of the waters journey up the stalk to the leaves... but we will see. I hope it doesn't take more than 24 hours... because I don't know how long those lovely little bottle of water will last upright.