Montessori Nature Tray with Vocabulary – Parts of the Plant

I wanted to expand on the nature work my 2½-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, and I have done this spring. We’ve had so much fun already with our nature walk and nature cutting tray, Montessori nature tray with magnification work and flower arranging, life and death nature tray, and our latest flower arranging activity.

 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you). I was also given the Plant Nomenclature Cards and Plant Nomenclature Book from Montessori Print Shop.

Zoey is always interested in the flowers we see on our nature walks. Because we’ve previously worked with living and non-living, plant and animal, and flower identification, we focused on parts of a plant. 

Bud and Flower Nature Walk

On our nature walk, I didn’t want to tear out any plants, so we just focused on finding a flower bud and flower.

First, Zoey used her cutting skills to collect a bud specimen.

Then Zoey collected a flower specimen.

Montessori Nature Tray with Vocabulary – Parts of the Plant

I used Zoey’s plant collections, an azalea plant, and Plant Nomenclature Cards and Plant Nomenclature Book from Montessori Print Shop. Montessori Print Shop also has the Plant Nomenclature Cards and Plant Nomenclature Book in red if you prefer. Having the plant parts in red can especially work well if your child will be coloring in the parts so he or she will focus on the plant parts rather than the colors. At Zoey’s age, it seemed to make the most sense to use colors in the natural plant colors.

You can find directions for making nomenclature cards and binding books at Montessori Print Shop. I simplified my bookmaking by using binder rings to bind the book. I simply placed the book and cards on small tabletop easels on the nature tray.

Materials Used:

• Multicraft Tray
• Montessori Services Basket
• Small Glass Decanter from Montessori Services (used in a pouring activity previously)
• Guidecraft Mirror Blocks
• Terra Kids Magnifier Beaker from Montessori Services
• Magnifying Glass from the Montessori By Mom Shoots and Sprouts Toolbox (which Zoey and I love)
• Bud and flower from our nature walk
• Azalea plant from the grocery store
• Tactile nature letter f from our earlier work (optional, but it added to our work with flowers)
• Plant Nomenclature Cards and Plant Nomenclature Book from Montessori Print Shop
• cardstock
• laminator
• binder rings

Zoey’s Work with the Montessori Nature Tray

First I placed the bud and flower from our nature walk in the Terra Kids Magnifier Beaker for Zoey to observe. We also reviewed our tactile nature letter for /f/.

Because Zoey loves handmade books so much, we read the plant book next. This will be used a lot! After that, I presented the nomenclature cards with the picture and word to be matched with the parts of the azalea plant. I could have used picture only (omitting the word) at Zoey’s age. For an older preschooler, you could use all 3 parts of the nomenclature cards.

I used a Montessori Services rug for the layout.

Zoey liked touching and identifying the various plant parts. This was the perfect way to introduce parts of a plant for Zoey! 🙂

In the photo, you’ll notice The Reason for a Flower in our book basket. That’s part of our flower work, too.

Nature Trays and Nature Tables – Resources

If you’d like to know more about preparing nature trays and nature tables, I have a roundup post with lots of ideas.

You’ll find more nature activities in the links below!

This post is part of the 12 Months of Montessori Series!

12 Months of Montessori Series – Nature/Outdoors

• Pond Theme Activities – STEM – Free Printables | Natural Beach Living
• Exploring our Senses Outdoors (Montessori Silence Game) – Printables | The Natural Homeschool
• Montessori Nature Tray with Vocabulary – Parts of the Plant | Living Montessori Now
• Montessori Inspired Bird Unit – Mama’s Happy Hive
• Montessori-inspired Preschool Bird Unit Study | Sugar,Glitter & Spice
• Montessori-inspired Backyard Bird Activities | Every Star is Different
• Nature in the Field | Grace and Green Pastures

Have fun with your nature activities! 🙂

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