Find an activity
Back to ideas

Explore · Wild and Tumble activity

Take it apart

What's inside? Gently take apart a flower, pine cone or seed head to find all its parts.

  • 15 min total
  • Some mess
  • Ages 3–5*
  • Indoors or out
  • Spring to autumn
Let's do this

*Illustrative age guidance. Your child's development and circumstances matter more than a number.

A tiny plan for your day

Estimated time: 3 min to choose · 10 min to explore · 2 min to tidy. It's fine to stop early.

Before you start

What you’ll need

  • One or two fallen flowers, a pine cone or a seed head
  • A tray or plate
  • A magnifying glass

Let's begin

Five simple steps

That's the whole activity. Tick each step off as you go, and stop whenever you like.

  1. Look at the whole thing first. What colour? What shape?

  2. Gently pull off one part at a time: petals, leaves, scales.

  3. Line them up on the tray.

  4. Count them. Which part is biggest? Smallest?

  5. Can you find the seeds hiding inside?

All done!

That's every step. However it went, you made a little moment together.

If you enjoyed this

More little ideas like this.

All activities