On Tuesday 10th October, we celebrated World Mental Health Day by taking part in our choice of wellbeing activity. One group of children spent the afternoon sunflower seed harvesting. Read more about what they did below:
We started off the session petal printing using the back of painted forks onto white seed packets. Some chose yellows; whilst others went for pinks and burgundy colours- a nod to their many varieties.
Whilst waiting to dry we had a discussion as to why seeds are so important. We noted that some seeds have been around for 100’s of years and are still viable whilst others are facing extinction. We recognised that seed banks and vaults in Norway and Kew Gardens are working to address this problem. We’re hopeful the work their doing will make a difference to the food chain, biodiversity, and life on the planet.
Theo showed us his collection of conkers, the BIG seeds, of the horse chestnut tree. Theo wants to plant them out. He went onto tell us that he loves sweet peas and has been saving their seeds at home. We discussed ‘seed swaps’, noting that most gardeners sow lots of seeds more than they need and ‘seed swaps’ are a good way of reducing waste.
Finn shared his experiences of living on a farm and harvest time. We had a look at local Farmer Green’s bundle of seeds which he brought along to the recent Harvest Festival at Combe Church. The children were amazed to hear the contents is enough to feed one adult for one day!
Listening to some relaxing music we carefully extracted some sunflower seeds from the sunflower head. We counted them out, making sure we had enough for two packets. The older children made sure the younger children had enough seeds. Lovely teamwork!
Mrs McKechnie said that the first seed packet would be for them, to remind them to look out for and notice things that bring them joy, and the second packet is to give away to their someone special…..
At the end of the session, Theo, the eldest, served up some freshly made strawberry milkshake. Why? Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on their outside skin and we’ve found we LOVE milk shakes… What’s your favourite?
