Plant Patterns

Go outside with your child and look at a tree or show your child the photo of a tree. Point out the trunk, branches, and leaves. Ask your child what they notice about the branches. Do they spread out from the trunk?

Ask your child to close their eyes and draw a tree in the air. As they move their finger to draw in the air, remind them that the tree trunk rises up from the ground and then the branches spread out. Next, encourage your child to draw a tree on paper. This is a great way to keep track of what your child observed!

Give your child a small plant to observe, such as a piece of parsley or cilantro. As your child holds the small plant, ask them what they notice about it. Does it have a stem, branches, and leaves? Once your child has had a chance to observe the small plant, encourage your child to draw a picture of what they noticed next to the tree they drew. Then invite your child can compare how the tree and the plant are the same and how they are different.

Now, give your child a leaf to observe. Your child can hold the leaf and investigate the veins in the leaf. Ask your child to draw a picture of the leaf right next to the small plant. Ask your child, "What do you notice about all three plant drawings?"

Encourage your child to share what they noticed about the tree and the small plant. Point out that both the tree and the small plant have a stem, but the tree’s stem is called a trunk. Help your child notice that, for both plants, branches grow from the stems and leaves grow from the branches. Then, ask your child about how the leaf compares with the tree. What patterns do they see?