Plant Puzzles

Print out the Tree Reference Sheet. Print out the Plant Part Cards. Then cut apart the cards, and shuffle them into a deck. Set out a blank piece of paper and drawing materials.

Show your child the Tree Reference Sheet. Encourage your child to name the parts of a tree: roots, trunk, branches, leaves, and fruit. Ask your child to notice how the different parts of the tree connect. The roots grow in the ground. The trunk grows up from the roots. The branches grow out from the trunk. And the leaves and fruit grow on the branches. You and your child can pretend to be trees. Together you can stomp your roots, shake your trunks, wave your branches, and wiggle your leaves and fruit.

Your child can use the deck of Plant Part Cards to draw a tree! Have your child take the top Plant Part Card from the deck. Encourage your child to look at the Tree Reference Sheet and observe where that part goes on a tree. Help your child figure out where on the page to draw that plant part.

Your child can take another Plant Part Card from the deck. Ask your child to check the Tree Reference Sheet. Ask your child, Where can you draw this part? Does this part connect to the part you already drew? Have your child draw the part of the tree.

Your child can keep taking Plant Part Cards and drawing more parts on their tree. When the tree has all five parts — roots, trunk, one or more branches, one or more leaves, and one or more fruits — the tree is finished!

Encourage your child to share what they found out about the parts of a tree. How do the different parts connect? How are the parts alike? How are they different?