One Little Seed

When we moved in Tony and Ada planted some sunflower seeds next to our garage.  They grew.  All fall they greeted us with sunny smiles when we came home.  Huge bumblebees would buzz and feed from the enormous flowers.

Unfortunately I don't have pictures from when they were planted or of the beautiful blossoms.

But once they dried I decided it would be a waste not to really use up the seeds.  So I put together this tray.

I used the printables from Montessori Print Shop and Ada and I talked about seeds and what they need to grow.  After a couple times of using it she would tell me the story of how they will "grow ad grow and grow".  Very cute.

She used the magnifying glass to investigate and look at the seeds and the flower head.  She put the head on the cutting board and would hit it with a meat tenderizer to get them off  and we would count the stripes on the seeds.  She collected the seeds in a little tin.  We crushed a few and ate the seeds inside.  She did this work several times over a couple weeks.  

Then...

We made little "pots" out of toilet paper tubes and used our new purple duct tape which I love.  The little pots were on Pinterest and were the inspiration for adding this portion of the work.  I wanted to make the pots and the seeds were just sitting there so we'll see if they grow.

The original plan was to take the seeds and eat a few (we did) and feed the rest to the birds in the yard.  Well, that's when I saw another cool thing on Pinterest...

We made a birdfeeder using peanut butter and another toilet paper roll.  Ours isn't as cool as the one that inspired this, but we made it and Ada was excited at the prospect of feeding the birds.  We put it on a bush that is near a window where we might be able to see them eating.  I have a feeling that some squirrels might enjoy it too... we'll have to watch and see.