Colourful Flowers

Age Group: 3-5 years
Duration: 20-30 minutes (plus time to watch the flowers change)

• Explore how flowers drink water
• Learn about colours
• Practice observation skills

Materials Needed:

• White flowers (like carnations or daisies)
• Clear cups or jars
• Water
• Food colouring (different colours)
• Scissors (for adults to use)

Instructions:

1. Start the Activity:
   • Show the children the white flowers. Ask, “What do you think will happen if we put these flowers in coloured water?”
   • Tell them that flowers drink water through their stems, and today, we’ll see how the water moves into the flowers.
     
2. Set Up the Experiment:
   • Let each child pick a flower.
   • Adults will cut the flower stems and put each flower in a cup of water.
   • Let the children choose a food colouring and add a few drops to the water. Each cup gets one colour!
     
3. Make Predictions:
   • Ask the children what they think will happen. “Do you think the flowers will change colour?”
   • Encourage them to look closely at their flower.
     
4. Watch and Wait:
   • Let the flowers sit in the coloured water.
   • Throughout the day, encourage the children to check on the flowers to see if the colours are starting to show in the petals.
     
5. Talk About It:
   • The next day, check the flowers together. “What happened? Did the flowers change colour?”
   • Explain that the flowers “drank” the coloured water, which moved up into the petals, making them change colour!
     
6. Wrap-Up:
   • Let the children take their colourful flowers home!
   • Talk about how flowers drink water to stay healthy, just like we drink water!