Seeds

We have been blessed with some amazing weather these last few days and today we took advantage of the sunshine to start talking about the garden.  For morning snack we had avocados, which was fortuitous because they gave us a perfect seed to begin talking about our garden exploration.
Since first feeding the boys solids, I have brought the entire fruit or vegetable to the table with a cutting board and knife.  I pass around the whole food first and encourage everyone to feel, look and even smell it.  We've been doing this for so long that as soon as I set down our bowl of avocados today they quickly reached in and began smelling them.  "What do you notice?  How does it smell?  How does it feel?  When you're done you can pass it!"
"Cut! Cut" insisted SC.
"What do you think is going to be inside?  What color?"  I asked as I began to cut.
"Grapes!" said SC and we all laughed.
"No grapes," said GW.
I pulled apart the two pieces and everyone said "Oooh" and "Ahh".  GW said "Egg!" and pointed at the pit, which truely resembled the shape and location of an egg yolk. After slicing up the green fruit everyone began pointing and talking about the large pit of the avocado.  We passed it around and I talked to them about sprouting the seed.  
"This seed is like an egg!  It can be come an avocado tree, just like the ones that live in our classroom.  An egg can become a chick.  Should we try to make it grow?" I asked as they sniffed and felt the slimy pits.

Everyone thought this was a great idea, so after snack I brought in the supplies to provide supports for the pits, 3 shortened, bamboo skewers per pit, and a jar for holding water.  Once we were outside SW and SC were especially interested in filling the jars with water.  We used our favorite kettle from outside and now the pits can be found in the entry way to our classroom!  We look forward to seeing them potentially sprout!
This is a very exciting time for me.  Spontaneous moments to learn about the natural world around me are exciting and today's naturally evolving activity gave me an opportunity to continue talking about seeds (they grow, make roots, become plants!), our garden, and the life in general outside.  Today we also spent some time getting seed starting trays ready and weeding the garden.  We also have been brainstorming what we should grow or plant.  Here are some of the responses:
GW : "Worms!"
SC : "Nanas!"
SW: "Corn 'n peas 'n berries 'n pumpkins...."
GH: "Beans."
T: "Moon!"