Flower Patterns
Episode # 132. Flowers and Vase
In a flat, rectangular-shaped box, the children give the Storypeople five very tall flowers. Grandmamma picks the flowers, but she doesn't know where to put them until the children give her a very tall vase.

Directions
Nature is full of repeating patterns. See how many your child can spot. Together, take a walk around any place that has a lot of plants. It could be your neighborhood, a park, or even the garden section of a home improvement store. Identify a feature of a plant and see if your child can find the same feature on a different plant (e.g., the flower appears at the end of a stem or the leaves have serrated edges). Or, look at a plant carefully and see if your child can spot a repeating pattern (e.g., the leaves on a rose bush are in alternating clusters of five and seven). Play a game to see who can spot the most patterns. For the youngest children, just counting the petals on a flower or the leaves on a stem would be appropriate. Are the numbers always the same? What kinds of shapes are common in plants?

At home, you might invite your child to join you in planting a seed or in watering plants you already have.

Talk About It
While viewing the Flowers & Vase episode, you might start a conversation by asking your child: "Have you ever seen flowers that big? What would you put them in?"

As you talk about the things on screen, you can help expand your child's vocabulary by alternating the words you use with their synonyms. In the Flowers & Vase episode you might describe Grandmamma sniffing the flower because it has a good scent, aroma, or smell.