Crazy Carrots

Posted on March 11, 2016

Making the most of a hint of spring sunshine the Dragonflies have been busy in the garden this afternoon.  Digging up the remaining vegetables before we prepare for this years crops the children dug up carrots of of all shapes and sizes.  With our current focus on language and communication we felt our carrots could be the making of many conversations at home.  Each Dragonfly child left Incy Wincy's today carrying a bag of carrots, written on the bag was an invitation for parents to ask what was in their child's bag...

There was a bundle of learning opportunities in each bag:

• Size - the carrots can be lined up by size, don't feel you have to stick to just small and large, words like teeny, minute, enormous or huge fascinate children
• Parts - crowns are not just for princesses, carrots have crowns too! Long white roots dangle down and of course the orange of the carrot is really a large tap root itself
• Description - some were wrinkly, some looked hairy, some were stumpy while others were bendy.  Help your child add new words to their vocabulary and use ones they are already familiar with.
• Physical skills - after all the digging and pulling this afternoon the children can develop more precise movements as they cut their carrots into smaller chunks. As they cut across different size circles will be seen
• Pattern - the circular chunks can be arranged into patterns or with a little paint can be used to print

These are just a few of our ideas, we look forward to parents sharing with us the fun and conversations they have had at home.  We hope the sunshine continues over the weekend and look forward to more gardening games next week.