The best way for children to learn how flowers grow is to grow some of their own. Children can use real flower pots, or you can make your own by cutting the tops off milk cartons and punching a few holes in the bottoms. Show children how to scoop some soil into their pots and plant flower seeds inside, then place flowers near sunlight and remind children to water them daily. Children will be able to make observations about what happens to their flower plants each day, and they'll also learn how to care for plants.
With all the varieties, shapes and colors of flowers available, they create an ideal sorting project for preschoolers. Sorting teaches children to spot similarities and differences among objects. Use real blooms or cut flower shapes out of paper. Ask children to sort flowers based on different guidelines. For instance, ask them to first sort flowers into groups by color, then ask them to sort flowers again into piles based on petal shape or petal size.
Preschoolers don't have to work with live plants in order to learn about flowers. Children can draw or paint flowers themselves, or cut real flower photos from gardening magazines to create collages. You might also help children make three-dimensional flowers out of tissue paper. Let each child choose a few colors of tissue paper to layer together, then twist the center of the papers so the edges stand up like petals. Glue on stems made from pipe cleaners. Gather everyone's flowers together into a bouquet, or let each child make multiple flowers to create her own bouquet.
Live flowers don't last forever, but dried blooms allow you to teach children about flowers year-round. When children pick flowers, help them remove the stems and press flower blooms between the pages of books until they dry out. Children may also press flowers between layers of contact paper so they'll be able to observe the petals up close. To preserve the imprints of flowers, place flowers between index cards. Supervise children closely while they use a hammer to tap on the top index card. When they remove this card and the flower, the flower's shape should be imprinted in the lower card.