The central theme in the "Mary Mary Quite Contrary" nursery rhyme is Mary's garden. Help students create their own class "garden" after your lesson. Cut out large petal shapes from white card stock, and give each student a small paper plate and several petals. Provide paint in a variety of colors, and invite students to be creative by adding bright colors and patterns to their petals. Once the petals are dry, help the children glue them onto the plates to make flowers. Create a garden bulletin board by attaching the flowers and adding stems and grass.
Use the nursery rhyme "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" to teach students about rhyming words. Show students how the words "Mary" and "contrary" rhyme because they sound the same. Go around the room and try to make a rhyme for each students' name. Let students think of as many rhymes as they can. Do not worry if students choose words that do not exist; instead, focus on teaching rhyming sounds.
In the springtime, take your class outside to collect flowers, leaves and plants, like Mary might have done. Give each student a small plastic bag for collecting treasures, and show students how to carefully pick flowers to avoid breaking them. Encourage students to closely observe the items they find, and ask them to describe how those items smell and feel.
Once inside, help each student place her flowers and plants between two pieces of tissue paper. Place a heavy book on top to press the flowers, and leave for several days to give the flowers time to dry. When the flowers are done, help the students glue their dried treasures to a pieces of stiff paperboard to make a collage.
After learning the nursery rhyme "Mary Mary Quite Contrary," talk with your students about the different types of things that grow in gardens. Show your students pictures of flower gardens and vegetable gardens. Take a field trip to a local vegetable garden, or bring in vegetables and fruits that commonly grow in gardens to share with the class. Take your students outside on a walk to find flowers in gardens near the school. If you have space, plant a few flowers outside, or make a container garden inside for your students to care for.