Activity Instruction Page
Gardening Requires Planning and Patience
- Activity Type: Hands-On Activity
- Theme: Growing Fruits & Vegetables
- Learning Center: Social Studies & Emotional Dev
In this preschool activity, children will learn the importance of planning and patience through the lens of gardening. The children will discuss times that patience is needed and ways to practice patience.
Materials & Direction
Materials:
-Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn
-Chart paper or whiteboard
-Markers
-Optional: visuals of gardens, fruits, and vegetables
Directions:
Read Lola Plants a Garden aloud to the class. After the story, guide a group discussion around the themes of planning and patience. Ask children to share a time when they had to be patient and what helped them wait.
Use chart paper to list ways preschoolers can practice patience, such as taking deep breaths, counting slowly, or doing something else while they wait.
Talk about how planting a garden takes time, and that just like seeds growing, they are learning and growing every day—even when it’s hard to wait.
Throughout the week, continue discussing feelings that come up when we have to be patient. Encourage children to name those feelings and explore what they can do with them.
This simple story-based activity supports social-emotional learning and helps children build self-awareness and self-regulation through relatable, real-life themes.
