Zinnias for Mother's Day

Writer’s Block… and then ‘Light Bulb’

This is only my fourth day as a ‘blogger’ and I have writer’s block! This is NOT a good sign… haha. I think it’s mainly because even though there is a lot going on in my classroom, we did a lot of the ‘behind the scene’ work today. Tomorrow we’ll be writing our how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and then making sandwiches. We’ll also be finishing up our Mother’s Day cards and gifts. So, maybe I’ll swing into Mother’s Day.

   Each of my kids planted a zinnia seed in a plastic cup, with Miracle-Gro potting mix (Lord knows I was not born with a green thumb) about two weeks ago. Last year, the kids planted seeds in cups, but we did it the Friday before Mother’s Day, so the kids took home a cup of dirt to their moms. This year, I tried to be proactive and plant them a bit earlier, so they would hopefully take home at least a small plant. Luckily, zinnias sprout fairly quickly, so each of my kids will be able to give their mom a zinnia sprout! I planted one as well, just because at the time I felt like it. Now I’m glad that I did because one kid’s seed didn't sprout, even though I planted a new seed in his cup last Friday (again, I was NOT born with a green thumb). Here are some pictures of our zinnia plants:

        I'm glad we only planted them two weeks early, because they are already pretty tall. Though, I'll definitely plant them two weeks out in the future because this tied right in to our plants unit in science. And, the kids have really enjoyed watching them grow! 

        We had also planted bean seeds with wet paper towel in plastic bags, so they could see how root systems grow. I hadn't done this before, but needed a quick activity before PE one day, so I quickly grabbed the materials and we got right to work. Each day we recorded the changes we observed in our journals, through illustrations and writing.  If you've never done this with your kids, I recommend it! 

        We also made a really neat card that I found when I was pinning, in a desperate search for new Mother’s Day ideas. The card print-out can be found on a girl & a glue gun: http://kimboscrafts.blogspot.com

I printed the MOM design out and then copied it onto pink and purple construction paper. I had my kids’ write Happy Mother’s Day and sign their names in the O and then they decorated the M’s with butterfly and flower foamies I bought at Hobby Lobby. Look for pictures to be posted tomorrow… or Saturday, since tomorrow is my birthday after all!

Final thought- if you’ve never been to Hobby Lobby, or HL as my bestie and I call it, you should!! It’s AWESOME!!!!!!!!

What are your kids doing for Mother’s Day?