This Easter, color your flowers along with your Easter eggs! Learn and watch how plants drink with this experiment and FREE printable lesson to go with it.
With spring on the horizon, I thought some pretty colored flowers around the house would serve us well. I planned this mini in-home lesson about How Plants Drink for my daughter.
I love hands on learning. I’ve put many-a-thing in my short term memory to pass a test in my life, and I always earned very good grades. However, I can’t regurgitate any of that information. Do you know what I DO remember? All of the things I’ve learned with my own two hands. That’s what sticks for me (and most people if you look into it), and it is how I prefer to teach my daughter whenever possible.
BLOG HOP FOR MORE SPRING THEMED IDEAS
I got together with some other very creative and talented ladies to share some spring ideas for you! Check out the links and descriptions at the bottom of this post!! You’ll find decorating inspiration, a free craft project, a free sewing pattern, & spring cleaning checklists.
HOW PLANTS DRINK VIDEO
HOW I SET UP MY “HOW PLANTS DRINK” LESSON + EXPERIMENT
I wanted to create a visual for my daughter, so I picked up some white roses and grabbed the food coloring. We had a discussion about the parts of a plant, as well as the processes of photosynthesis, transpiration & capillary action (broken down simply in the free printable at the bottom of this post). Then we got to the fun part of setting up some colored water. I worried less about how many drops I put in, and more about making sure I had a good rich color.
Ah how I love a good rainbow. So pleasing to the eye. I asked my daughter what she thought would happen, and clever thing that she is, she said the flowers would turn color. Well, that’s what we’re hoping for here babe!
We got our roses all trimmed and set up in the colored water, and then it was bed time.
After only a couple hours I could already see the edges of the roses changing color. I knew my daughter would be in for a colorful treat in the morning.
THE RESULTS OF OUR “HOW PLANTS DRINK” EXPERIMENT
When we got up the next morning, we had a beautiful rainbow of roses. My daughter was so delighted! And the best part is she UNDERSTANDS how they changed color. This is the sort of knowledge she’ll be able to retain, and for me that’s the best part.
One interesting note is the roses in the purple water didn’t change color. If I looked VERY closely it seemed the edges of the petals had a hint of color to them, but it was faint enough that it could have been my imagination. It would make a great follow up lesson/experiment to find out WHY the purple is the only color that didn’t readily absorb into the rose petals.
I also set up a couple pieces of celery in colored water. I remember doing this as a child (again with the knowledge retention), and I knew the ribs of the celery would show the color very clearly. One I put in red water alone, and the other I split between green and orange water by slicing the bottom of the stalk up the center and straddling it between two containers.
I cut them at an angle to show the interior well. It was neat to see the different sides of the one I split between the two colors.
BLOG HOP SPRING POSTS
Check out these spring themed posts from some other very creative and lovely ladies!
- Jennifer at Yellow Rose Jenny has two Spring Cleaning Checklists to share with you
- Jennifer at The Everyday Farmhouse will be showing you how to do a simple spring mod podge craft with your kids. Free printable silhouettes available!
- Brianne at Homemade on our Homestead has a FREE sewing pattern for a carry all basket tote
- Julie at This Beautiful Farm Life will show you how to decorate your mantel for spring with a garden theme vignette.
- Kelin at Hydrangea Treehouse is decorating her entryway table for spring, and has a free bird garland printable.
HOW PLANTS DRINK FREE PRINTABLE LESSON FROM THE CHEEKY HOMEMAKER
RELATED POSTS
WELCOME SPRING with YOUR CHILDREN
DIY FLOWER PEN
Thanks for stopping by!!
XO,
Morgan
The Cheeky Homemaker
This was a great post! My girls love doing this, but we have never used roses! They are extra pretty! We have only used carnations and daisies, also queen annes lace, but the results with that is pretty sad looking! Thank you for the printable too!
Thanks Jenn! I’m glad you liked it. The roses came out very pretty – much more aesthetically pleasing than celery too!
Morgan this was great. I loved your very friendly video. We have homeschooled for over 25 years and I think this is one experiment we just have never gotten around to. Will have to try it soon with my youngest 3. Thanks for sharing in the Blog Hop as well!
Thanks Julie! My 4yo loved it. It’s been a pleasure blog hopping with you!
I love how the red colored water transform the roses into a beautiful apricot color !
Me too! I was surprised at how beautiful the flowers turned out. They reminded me of Easter eggs!
Wow! Morgan, I can totally understand the science but I just never had the opportunity to do this experiment. What a great lesson for your daughter! Great, great post!
Thanks Jenny! We really enjoyed doing it.
Oh I’ve done this with celery, never with flowers. Very pretty results, I must try this.