Explore this Super App for Spring...Dr. Panda's Veggie Garden

Spring is here and the above photo was a picture of my whiteboard drawing as an icebreaker for my students.  This drawing above initiated topics among my students such as:  "My mother is growing tulips in her garden" or "Flowers need water and sun to grow."  These conversations sound like some good language and some good speech sounds all in one.  

I brought in artificial vegetables for my younger students to describe and they really enjoyed telling me all about the different types of vegetables.  The artificial vegetables I got from Ikea in the children's section.  

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One of my favorite apps that a lot of my younger students have enjoyed is Dr. Panda's Veggie Garden.  This app was very good to tie in all of the information that they have been learning in class about vegetables and fruit and how plants grow.  


Here is the link:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dr.-pandas-veggie-garden/id585512923?mt=8


Cost of this app: $1.99.


There are 12 different fruits and vegetables that the students can grow and learn about in this app.  It also provides some good vocabulary (i.e. plowing, seeding) and the students can put the fruits and vegetables in the correct category.  To make it even more engaging, I chose one student to be the farmer.

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First the elephant pulls up and is thinking off a fruit or a vegetable.  The farmer (a student) can name what the elephant is thinking of in his mind.  Below are some of the steps that the students had to take in order to make the blueberries grow.

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Open the bag

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Put the seeds in the pot

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Use the watering can

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Sunlight to help the blueberries grow

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Keep the bugs away from eating your blueberries

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Pick the blueberries and put them in the basket for the elephant

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Put the blueberries on the back of the elephant's truck

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This activity is also great for sequencing.  If you have students who are working on different speech sounds, the farmer (a student) can pass out blueberries or other fruits and vegetables with the various speech sounds and words on paper blueberry cut outs.


Here is a link for 79 Free Fruit and Vegetable Worksheets http://busyteacher.org/classroom_activities-vocabulary/food_and_drinks/fruit_and_vegetables-worksheets/


What are some of your favorite Spring Apps?