My dearest friend, Aniko was surprised with giant sunflowers by her lovely neighbor. Of course, she got creative.
She created a very complex activity for her children including some interesting sunflower facts. We wanted to share these easy sunflower sensory and fine motor activities with you and your kids to enjoy.
Fun and Educational Sunflower Activity for Kids
Sunflowers are not only beautiful and fun to look at, but they’re a great source of information for curious little minds.
Check out our sensory play ideas, fine motor activities, and sunflower facts for kids below!
What Will You Need?
- Sensory tray
- Sunflowers
- Tweezers
- Sunflower printables
- Small bowls
- Roasted sunflower seeds
- Sunflower Oil
Observing the Sunflower – Fine Motor Activity
The beauty of sunflowers is something that has been cherished by people for centuries.
Including real sunflowers in your play is a perfect opportunity to teach your child about the parts of a plant.
As they investigate the sunflower, they’ll learn about the function of each part. They may even be inspired to learn more about plants and how they grow!
What to do?
Print the template that will you use during your activity.
Give your children the tweezers to pick the sunflower seeds from the sunflower head then take a close look. They can also try to take them out with their fingers. Clean a seed together and let them taste it.
If you have previously prepared roasted sunflower seeds, let them try those too. Let them smell the yellow oil of the sunflower. Pour it into the water, and see what happens.
Use the printed template to introduce some of the benefits of sunflowers and talk about interesting sunflower facts for kids.
Using tweezers is a simple task that will help improve your child’s grip strength and coordination.
Sunflower Sensory Play for Kids
This activity is perfect for kids of all ages. It’s a great way to teach them about the different parts of the sunflower and what they can be used for.
Plus, it’s a lot of fun to observe the parts of a sunflower, explore its edible seeds, and then use them in play.
What to Do?
To get started, set up all the materials in the sensory tray. Then, simply take apart a sunflower and let your child explore all the different parts.
They can touch and smell the different parts of the flower and even taste the sunflower seeds.
They can try them raw straight from the flower head (peeled of course) and also roasted bought from the store. They can also smell and touch sunflower oil.
As they explore, talk about the interesting benefits of the common sunflower and fun sunflower facts.
Painting with Sunflower Petals
What Will you Need?
- Sunflower petals
- White paper
- Water
- Bowl
To get started place the sunflower petals in the water and let them soak for a few minutes.
Then simply grab the yellow petals and start painting yellow streaks on the paper. The yellow pigments in the petals make a natural yellow dye.
Fun Sunflower Facts for Kids
Did you know that the sunflower is not just a pretty face? This flower is actually quite interesting and has many different uses.
Here are some fun facts about sunflowers that your kids might not know:
Fascinating Information about Sunflowers for Kids
🌻 The word sunflower comes from a Greek word that means “flower of the sun.” Its binomial name is Helianthus Annuus. This means that sunflowers are a type of plant that has two parts to its scientific name. The first part, Helianthus, refers to the genus, or family, of plants to which sunflowers belong. The second part, annuus, refers to the species of plant within that genus.
🌻 The first people to grow sunflowers were Native Americans. They grew them for their seeds, which are very nutritious.
The oil from the seeds was used for cooking and lighting. Sunflower oil is still used for cooking today. It is also used to make biodiesel fuel.
🌻 These unique flowers have a variety of uses and benefits that may surprise you. For example, did you know that sunflower oil is used in many different cosmetics and products?
🌻 The head of a sunflower is made up of hundreds of tiny flowers called florets. And the outside petals are called ray florets and they are what give the sunflower its characteristic shape.
🌻 After the disc florets have been pollinated by bees they mature into seeds!
🌻 Seeds that come from the disk flowers contain a sweet, yellow oil.
🌻 A sunflower demonstrates heliotropism by turning its head to face the sun. It’s like the sunflower is trying to take a selfie with the sun!
🌻 The seeds from the sunflower are used to make margarine. Margarine is a type of butter that is made from plant oils, rather than from cream like regular butter.
The seeds are ground up and then pressed to extract the oil. This oil is then mixed with other ingredients to create margarine. Sunflower seeds can also be eaten as a snack.
🌻 Sunflowers may typically contain 2000 seeds. That’s a lot of seeds! Imagine if you had to plant 2000 sunflowers.
It would take a long time, but it would be so worth it to see all of the pretty sunflowers growing in your garden.
🌻 The sunflower stem can grow up to 3 meters and the flower head can be even 30 centimeters wide. The world’s tallest sunflower recorded in the Guinness world record was over 9 meters!
🌻 Some animals like to eat sunflowers and sunflower seeds. For example, squirrels, chipmunks, bears, mice, and birds all like to eat sunflowers and sunflower seeds.
🌻 Do you know how some people like to put butter on their toast in the morning? Well, sunflower seeds can be turned into a type of butter called sunbutter.
Some people like to spread sunbutter on their toast instead of regular butter. It’s kind of like having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but with sunbutter instead of peanut butter.
🌻 In Germany, people like to eat a type of bread called Sonnenblumenkernbrot. This bread is made by mixing sunflower seeds with rye flour. Some people think this bread is very tasty. Others think it is a little strange.
🌻 Famous Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh loved sunflowers. He made a series of paintings featuring them and called them Sunflowers. Some people think they’re the most beautiful paintings ever made.
🌻 The sunflower is Ukraine’s official national flower. This beautiful flower is native to Ukraine and has been cultivated for centuries. The sunflower is a symbol of Ukrainian culture and history.
🌻 Kansas is mostly known as the Sunflower State and the sunflower is in fact Kansas’s state flower.
Don’t forget to check out for more information and fun activities here at Messylearnigkids.
