Since returning after Easter, part of our children’s learning has been beautifully sparked by observing the life cycle of our daffodils.
When we returned, the children noticed how much the daffodils had grown over the Easter break, which led to lots of discussion and curiosity. This inspired us to paint the daffodils, carefully observing their colours, shapes, and details, supporting creativity, expressive arts, and close observation skills. Together we have created a wonderful daffodil display for our classroom.
As the days passed, the children began to notice changes during outdoor play — “They’re bending!” and “They’re dying!” Together, we talked about how plants grow, change, wilt, and eventually die, helping the children develop an early understanding of the natural world and plant life cycles.
The children then used scissors to cut down the daffodils and chop them up, providing a valuable opportunity to practise fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and safe scissor control. Once cut and chopped, the daffodils were added to our mud kitchen, where they became a cooking resource for imaginative play — quickly transforming into soups, potions, and meals!
This play supported:
- Imaginative role play and creativity.
- Language development as children shared ideas and stories.
- Social skills through cooperative play.
- Continued fine motor development.
We have now cleared the daffodils, making space and preparing the area ready to plant our carrots, allowing the children to continue their learning about growing plants, caring for the environment, and understanding where food comes from.
It has been wonderful to see how a simple plant has supported such rich, meaningful, and child-led learning from beginning to end.
