Spring Flower Activities for Kids

Spring is in the air where I live (finally) and there are little flowers all over the place. It’s nice to have color after what feels like so long without it, and it’s also a good time to learn about flowers with kids. Here are a few fun resources for learning about and playing with flowers.

Look We’re Learning has a great set of printable flower identification cards that includes eight different flowers: tulip, daffodil, rhododendron, orchid, hibiscus, iris, geranium and dahlia. You can just print out the cards twice and make a memory game, have older kids research a flower on their own, or have younger kids pick a flower they want to learn about. Or take them to the botanical garden and see how many of the flowers you can find.

Kindred Inspiration has a lot of fun spring activities for little kids, but if you scroll through the post you’ll find a set of printable Montessori three-part cards for for daffodils, tulips, snowdrops, crocuses, bluebells, and irises. Print and have kids match the flower to the name.

Learn about the life cycle of a flower with these printables from Homeschool Preschool. There’s a simple version for little kids and one with more description for older kids.

Little Bins for Little Hands has a great series of hands on flower themed activities that little ones are sure to love. Since it starts with flowers in a block of ice, this is one you might want to save for or do again when it is hot outside so kiddos can play with/observe the flowers in the ice and have a little cool off at the same time. Head to the blog post for all the details on this fun activity you can do all at once or in three parts.

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The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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