Science related craft

This is the craft project that I was referring to in an earlier post. It’s nothing fanciful. It’s very simple and basic, using stuff around the house.

As with my other craft projects, I aimed to get in some fine motor work (using a scissors which he still can’t), handwriting and creativity. In this one, there is the element of science as well. I hope to instil a love for learning by making learning fun.

I first wrote out the names of the parts and had him copy it out. Then I drew boxes around the labels as a guide to cutting.

I cut out the horizontal portions of the labels. Then I held his hand to cut out the shorter vertical portions. As with most fine motor things that he’s still learning to do, I have to simplify the process initially until he gets better at it.

I showed him how I wish to assemble the pieces. I summarised what was taught in class – that the trunk is a special type of stem; stems are like tunnels that transport water and minerals (hence my use of straws and toilet rolls); stalk connects the leaf to the stem; veins are tiny tunnels in leaves (I used different sized straws); flowers have petals, pollen, nectar; nectar is a sweet liquid; bees and insects help in pollination when the pollen sticks to their legs and body.

I helped him cut the broad sticky tape. I assembled the pieces while he messed around with the pieces. I helped him roll the yellow play dough into a ball and push it into the plastic container. I showed him how to push the “pollen” into the play dough, and he did some himself. For each label, I asked him where it belongs and then I used sticky tape to stick it.

When completed I brought in the bee. I explained that the bee likes the flower because the petals are bright (hence my choice of red) and they like to drink the nectar which is a sweet liquid. I showed him how the pollen sticks to the legs (that’s why I used Velcro for its legs). I didn’t fill the plastic container with water cos my structure toppled easily. But while I was explaining about pollination, he had begun to get restless. Overall it took slightly over a hour, so I guess it was “reasonable” for him to be restless.

Materials used:

-Coloured paper for the petal and leaf (I cut out a leaf shape from an earlier leaf rubbing activity)
-Paper to write the labels
-Inner tube of a toilet roll and aluminium roll to represent the trunk
-Straws of different diameters (bubble tea straw, normal straw, boxed drink straw, middle part of cotton bud stick) to represent stem, stalk, vein
-Cotton buds dipped in yellow food colouring dye (I prepared this part a few weeks earlier cos it takes a long time for the dye to dry) to represent pollen
-Velcro (for the bee’s legs)
-A toy bee (happened to have one made from pipe cleaners)
-A small container to sit on top of toilet roll (to hold the play dough and pollen)
-Play dough
-Broad sticky tape
-Scissors