• Read through the activity and practice your pacing.
• Recruit an adult helper to model the motions. Give this person a copy of this activity in advance.
• Designate a large space, preferably outdoors, where children can position themselves arms' width apart.

Gather the children in a circle and tell them they are going to become plants. In these words or your own, say:

How do plants start out?

Wait for responses. Affirm:

Yes, plants start as seeds... So, let's become seeds now. Crouch down and curl up like a tiny seed in the ground.

Continue, and have the adult helper model the children's movements as you describe them:

As you begin your journey as a seed, you'll need water to grow. I'll sprinkle you with some water. [Use your hands or fingers to sprinkle water or pretend to use a watering can.]

Now that you have the water you need, take one arm and extend it to the ground. This is your root, which continues to grow strong down into the soil to absorb water and nutrients-your food. Grow your root into your feet to steady your plant in the soil. Your feet are now a sturdy root.

With a big, hardy root, the stem begins to grow up out of the soil. Start slowly standing upright. Your body is the stem which holds the plant upright, just like your skeleton holds your human body upright.

Your stem grows taller and stronger, seeking sunlight. Once your stem is sturdy, leaves start to grow out of the stem. So, unfurl your arms to be leaves. The leaves absorb sunlight and convert it into food for a plant, so hold your leaves out for some sun.

The plant starts to grow a beautiful flower. Your face represents the flower so turn it up to the sky. The flower is looking for a bee to visit it. Here's a bee coming to visit each flower. [Buzz around to visit each "flower."]

After a bee visits your flower, the flower wilts, and a yummy fruit is left behind. The fruit is full of seeds for more plants. Hang your head down to represent a fruit heavy with seeds.

Now a hungry animal comes and takes the fruit and the seeds. It eats the fruit and drops the seeds in a new location. Crouch down into a ball to become a seed once again, sleeping in the soil, waiting to start the cycle all over again.

Process the activity with questions such as:

• How did it feel to be a seed? To grow into a flower?
• How many different kinds of flowers can you think of? Do you have a favorite kind of flower? What do you like about it?