The Clover Patch

Our children have been feeling the heat in the afternoon. So, we sat by the pine tree for some much needed shade. As we sat and chatted the children discovered a whole patch of clover. They started picking and making bouquets. 

They plucked clover one by one using their nimble fingers.  

"Ah I got one!"

"Look I got a whole bunch." 

Then children thought, now what do we do with our flowers? I suggested to make necklaces and bracelets. So, I got right to work as the children collected more clover. 

I decided to enhance the children's' play by adding some science to the mix. I explained.

Miss Santilllan : "You know, we can change the color of the flowers." 

Child: "How?"

Miss Santillan: "We can put the flowers in a container then add food colouring at the bottom."

Child: "Really?"

I took some children inside to gather a container and some food colouring.

We found two glass containers. These containers would help the children see the change happen. We then snipped the bottom of the clover so that the color could travel up the stem to the flower. One child chose the color red, and the other blue.

Miss Santillan: "Remember kids, the colour will not change right away; you have to wait until the next day for the clover to change colour."

Child: "One  whole sleep?!"

Miss Santillan: "Yes over night."

 

The next day the transformation was complete. The clover completely changed in color. All of the children were amazed by the experiment. 

"Wow, the flowers are so pretty."

 

Science and nature go hand and hand. Watching the transformation helps the children understand about change. The stem acts like a straw sucking up the color and travelling up to the clover to dye the flower. We are learning with science and inspired through nature.

Written By: Miss Santillan🙋🏻