Five-Minute Warning

Materials

None

Instructions

1. Give each child a pinecone and a paper plate. Encourage the children to pull
off the petals of the pinecone.
2. Encourage the children to investigate the seeds from the pinecones. Explain
that squirrels eat the seeds.
3. Experiment by putting pinecones in water. When wet, the petals close. When
dry, the petals open.
More to do
Art: Use pinecones to make nature prints. Show the children how to dip
pinecones into shallow pans of poster paint. Encourage the children to dab cones
on paper, tissue paper, or wrapping paper.
Math: Count the pinecones. Help the children organize them from smallest to
largest.