Spring Seeds

Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson

Plant a seed to watch it grow. Press on the cloud to make it rain. Jiggle the book to scatter the seeds. Interactive text teaches very young children how flowers sprout and mature.

Seed Magic by Natalie McKinnon

How can a tiny handful of seeds become a whole mountain of seeds? Seed Magic, that’s how! In this simple story of friendship, Little Spider teaches her friend Anxious Ant about the life cycle of plants, showing nature will provide all we need if we are not greedy.

Plants Can’t Sit Still by Rebecca E Hirsch

Describes some ways in which plants can move, from sunflowers turning towards sunlight and vines creeping up a fence to tulips folding in at night and maple seeds whirling like helicopters in the wind.

What Will Grow by Jennifer Ward

Seeds can be big and small, round and pointy, and all sorts of colors. But they all have one thing in common–inside waits a new plant life, waiting to emerge! This lush journey through an entire year follows seeds that bloom in the very beginning of spring, all the way through ones that sprout in winter.

Pandora by Victoria Turnbull

Pandora the fox lives alone in a junk yard. She’s depressed and has no contact with the outside world. Then, she rescues a blue bird. As she nurses him back to health, the bird collects seeds and trinkets for her. One day, the bird grows strong enough to fly away, but the garden seeds he brought begin to transform Pandora’s landscape.

If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson

While planting seeds in their garden, two animals learn the value of kindness.

Rooting for You : (a moving up story) by Susan Hood

A seed, afraid but bored in the dark soil, decides to put out one little root, then one little shoot, before learning that there are plenty of friends around for encouragement.

Plants Feed Me by Lizzy Rockwell

Watermelons are fruits. Cabbages are leaves. Walnuts are seeds. Carrots are roots. People eat many parts of plants. Even flowers!

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

A simple description of a flowering plant’s life cycle through the seasons.

Comparing and sorting seeds: https://www.howweelearn.com/seed-activity-kids-gardening/

Giant sunflower craft: https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/04/in-the-garden.html

Garden Discovery

The Children’s Garden : Growing Food in the City by Carole Lexa Schaefer

 Youngsters explore the sights, smells, sensations, and tastes of growing their own food in a community garden. Story based on the Children’s Garden in Seattle.

Anywhere Farm by Phyllis Root

All it takes for an anywhere farm is one farmer, plus soil and sunshine, some water, and a seed.

Florette by Anna Walker

When Mae’s family moves from the country to the city, she is sad to leave behind her beloved backyard garden but before long, she finds a way to start a new garden.

Stories from Bug Garden by Lisa Moser

The garden was old and forgotten, with a tumbledown wall and a one-wheeled barrow. So they moved in one by one, by one. What may appear to be an abandoned garden is actually home to an eclectic array of insects, from a ladybug who prefers making mud angels to acting like a lady, to a roly-poly bug who loves to roll, to a cricket who dreams of grand adventures.

Snail has Lunch by Mary Peterson

When Snail’s bucket home is turned over, a ladybug takes him on a journey through the vegetable garden, discovering delicious new foods while encountering new animals.

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner

Up in the garden, the world is full of green–leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt there is a busy world of earthworms digging, snakes hunting, skunks burrowing, and all the other animals that make a garden their home.

Square Cat ABC by Elizabeth Schoonmaker

Eula, the square cat, grows many vegetables in her garden but cannot be persuaded to like spinach.

A Year in Our New Garden by Gerda Muller

Join Anna and Benjamin as, with a little help from their neighbor, they spend a year learning about all the wonderful things you can do in a garden: planting, harvesting, playing, enjoying picnics and spotting wildlife.

Sticky Window flower garden:https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2013/03/sticky-window-flower-garden.html

Coffee Filter Art Flowers: https://fun-a-day.com/coffee-filter-art-flowers/

Spring Mud Puddles

Mud by Mary Lyn Ray

As winter melts into spring, the frozen earth turns into magnificent mud.

Mudkin by Stephen Gammell

While playing outside on a rainy day, a little girl peers into a puddle and sees Mudkin, who invites her to become his queen.

Preschool to the Rescue by Judy Sierra

When a mud puddle traps a pizza van, police car, tow truck, and other vehicles, a group of preschoolers comes along and saves the day.

Oink, Oink, Benny by Barbro Lindgren

Tired of hanging around inside, Benny and his little brother decide to venture outside where they, despite the order of their mother, head straight for the mudhole.

Harry, the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion

Harry is a white dog with black spots who absolutely, positively hates to take a bath. After a day of adventure, Harry gets so dirty that he no longer looks like a white dog with black spots. Now he looks like a black dog with white spots!

Pignic by Matt Phelan

It’s a perfect day for a pignic!

A blue sky. A shady tree. A bright kite. And a full picnic basket. Four little pigs and their parents head outside to enjoy a beautiful day. With a little help from some new (and unexpected) friends, they climb trees, fly kites, and enjoy a delicious picnic. Even a sudden rain shower can’t ruin their fun. Because rain means . . . MUD! Hooray!

The Piggy in the Puddle by Charlotte Pomerantz

See the piggy,

See the puddle,

See the muddy little puddle.

See the piggy in the middle

Of the muddy little puddle.

And so begins this rollicking story-in-verse about a determined young pig who absolutely refuses to leave her mud puddle–much to the dismay of her family!

Puddle Jumping Gross Motor Game: https://www.pinkoatmeal.com/spring-gross-motor-game-puddle-jumping/

Mud puddle I Spy: https://www.babiestobookworms.com/2018/03/08/muddy-puddles/

Piggies in the Puddle sensory bin: http://www.raisingfairiesandknights.com/piggy-puddle-sensory-bin/

Spring Rain

Ava and the Rainbow (Who Stayed)

Ged Adamson, author, illustrator

The rain had stopped and the sun was coming out. And Ava knew that meant one thing…A RAINBOW! And not just any rainbow–this was the most beautiful rainbow Ava had ever seen.

Splish, Splash, Ducky!

Lucy Cousins, author, illustrator

Ducky Duckling has a rainy day adventure, but when the rain stops he feels sad.

Rain

Sam Usher, author, illustrator.

It’s raining, but one little boy can’t wait to go outside for an adventure with his granddad.

Watersong

Tim McCanna, author

A fox’s journey to take shelter from a rainstorm, told entirely in onomatopoeia.

Plant the Tiny Seed

Christie Matheson, author, illustrator

Plant a seed to watch it grow. Press on the cloud to make it rain. Jiggle the book to scatter the seeds. Interactive text teaches very young children how flowers sprout and mature.

Wet

Carey Sookocheff, author, illustrator

Explores getting wet in good ways, such as stepping into a pool, and bad ways, such as sitting on a bench after rain.

On a Magical Do-nothing Day

Béatrice Alemagna, author

Sent outside by their mother on a rainy day, a child is dismayed when their handheld game falls into the pond before they encounter giant snails, wet mushrooms, and other elements that awaken them to the sensory aspects of nature.

Rain Fish

Lois Ehlert, author, illustrator

Through rhyme and mixed-media collage illustrations, ‘rain fish’–the varied, colorful, and unique little collections of materials that float along on streams of rain water during storms–come to life.

When the Rain Comes

Alma Fullerton, author

It is time to plant the rice crop in Malini’s Sri Lankan community, and the little girl is both excited and nervous to help for the first time.

Umbrella and rain craft:https://mrsplemonskindergarten.com/2016/10/tot-school-weather.html

Rain cloud craft: https://myboredtoddler.com/rain-cloud-toddler-craft/

Springtime

Spring for Sophie by Yael Werber

Sophie listens and watches for the signs of spring–the melting ice, the blue sky–until one day the raindrops come and spring is here.

Hello Spring! by Shelley Rotner

Presents a lyrical celebration of the arrival of spring, which is marked by changes in plant and animal life.

Bloom by Deborah Diesen

A mother and child plant flower bulbs in the fall, wait through the winter, and see them bloom in the spring.

Good Morning, Grizzle Grump! by Aaron Blecha

Winter is over! Spring has sprung! Grizzle Grump has just woken up from his long winter slumber. His big bear belly is quite rumbly. So he sets off with his trusty squirrel sidekick in search of a springtime snack.

What Will Grow? by Jennifer Ward

Seeds can be big and small, round and pointy, and all sorts of colors. But they all have one thing in common–inside waits a new plant life, waiting to emerge! This lush journey through an entire year follows seeds that bloom in the very beginning of spring, all the way through ones that sprout in winter.

Shake a Leg, Egg! by Kurt Cyrus

It’s springtime, and the pond is bursting with new life. There are beaver pups, heron hatchlings, and lots and lots of ducklings. Everyone is out and about, swimming, flapping, chirping, and quacking–except for one family of geese.

Abracadabra! It’s Spring! By Anne Sibley O’Brien

Winter turns to spring in this lyrical book that celebrates the magic of nature and the changing seasons. Eleven gatefolds open to recreate the excitement and surprise of spring’s arrival.

Finding Spring by Carin Berger

Too excited to hibernate through his first winter, a bear cub tries to find spring.

Crinkle, Crackle, Crack : it’s Spring! By Marion Dane Bauer

Invites the reader to join a bear and other woodland animals on a cold, moonlit walk to investigate strange noises and observe the arrival of spring.

Chromatography Butterfly Craft:https://buggyandbuddy.com/chromatography-butterflies-separating-colors-in-markers/

Rain Cloud in a Jar activity: https://funlearningforkids.com/rain-cloud-jar-science-experiment/

Human sized bird’s nest: https://mothernatured.com/animal-craft-ideas/make-a-bird-nest-using-recycled-materials/