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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Girls at the dandelion Sprout Club program on May 18 at Fellows Riverside Gardens looked at the leaves of the dandelions.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.One of the children showed off his wish necklace he made with dandelion seeds during Fellow Riverside Gardens Sprout Club program on dandelions.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.One of the children used a stem of a dandelion to try and blow bubbles during the dandelion Sprout Club program.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Children blew bubbles using dandelion stems and soap mixed with water during Fellows Riverside Gardens Sprout Club.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Girls at the dandelion Sprout Club blew the seeds of a dandelion during the program at Fellows Riverside Gardens on May 18.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
Children at the monthly Sprout Club program met on May 18 at Fellows Riverside Gardens to learn about dandelions.
Lynn Zocolo, horticulture educator, teaches the children each month about a different part of the environment. This month the children got hands-on with dandelions and the different parts.
The program started out with a coloring sheet for children to color until everyone came and the lesson could begin. Zocolo taught the children about the different parts of a dandelion and then passed those parts out for the children to look at and feel.
The children had the opportunity to examine the stem, the leaves, the flower and the seeds.
Zocolo also informed the children that parts of the dandelions are safe to eat, but only after asking an adult.
Many people associate blowing the dandelion seeds with making a wish, so the children made their own wish necklaces.
They were given ribbon, a container on the ribber, dandelion seeds and an acorn top as the lid.
There was a tag on the necklace that said “Some see a weed, I see a wish.” The children were supposed to make a wish as they put the seeds into the container.
After making the necklaces, the children tried blowing bubbles with the hollow stem. There was an experiment to see if bubbles or water mixed with soap created the best bubbles. In the end, the soap mixture produced the most and biggest bubbles.
Sprout Club educations children in a hands-on way that gives them the opportunity to have fun while doing it.
Anyone interested in signing up for Sprout Club can visit www.millcreekmetroparks.org for more information.