Experiential learning felt Pumpkin Anatomy Montessori Botany Study for preschool and kindergarteners to learn hands-on parts of a plant by dissecting, labeling, and watercolor painting.
The Montessori approach is based on hands-on exploration and discovery! It is not based on the passive consumption of information but rather on active construction and creation! We all know that learning is not a spectator’s sport! So when we make learning hands-on and add impressions and emotions, as with this Felt Pumpkin Plant Anatomy, we convert learning into a long-term transformation! Remember, since learning is state-dependent if emotions are zero and a child is bored, anything times zero is zero!
So, to make learning exciting and lasting, in a Montessori environment, cognitive learning is often accompanied by invitations to make, create, cut and paste, draw or paint, and so forth.
Montessori Philosophy | Experiential learning
As such, Montessori philosophy implements experiential learning or learning by doing! For example, we can read 100 books on how to learn to ride a bike, but until we start pedaling and thrust forward on a bike, the learning will not become a transformation! What you know, you might forget, but what you do, transforms you; it becomes you! For example, you can no longer revert to not having a balance on the bike once you learn to ride it!
You cannot revert to not knowing how to walk once you make your first wobbly step!
You cannot revert to not knowing how to speak once you learn to utter your first words! ⠀
The same thing applies to knowledge. For learning to become a transformational process, you need to roll up your sleeves and do the doing!
You’ll Need For Felt Pumpkin Plant Anatomy
- Anatomy of the Pumpkin printable
- felts
- scissors
- a real pumpkin (if possible)
- lentils or other grains to make a cardboard pumpkin (see below)
- watercolor paints or watercolor brush markers
- watercolor paper
- self-adhesive dots
Instructions
To convert a printable into a hands-on label-matching activity, laminate the page that says “CUT” and cut out each label. Then adhere self-adhesive dots to each label. Now, find a page that says “ATTACH” and attach the second part of the self-adhesive dot to the white space inside each border. Lastly, offer child labels to match each pumpkin’s corresponding part.
Have you tried making a Felt Pumpkin Plant Anatomy? Leave a comment if you did!
The Pumpkin Anatomy is included in a Thanksgiving course. Join below!
For More Pumpkin Activities …
See here how to make a Grain Pumpkin Craft.
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