Seedpods
We had a much needed day at home today. We had time to just be. Kids need that, and mums do too. We spent the morning in the backyard making nature collections together, and discovered that half of the collection tray was taken up with interesting seedpods.
It was a wonderfully spontaneous way of talking about life (at a three year old level). “A tree grows big and strong. The tree grows seedpods with little seeds inside. The wind carries the seeds down to the ground. The little seed grows into a new tree, big and strong…”
We spent time talking about each one. Some of them still had seeds in them, some of them had little holes where the seeds would have been. Some seedpods were huge, and filled with hundreds of seeds. Some only contained a single seed. Some were so tiny it was hard to believe there were seeds inside them!
Without doubt though the best part of the morning was talking about how the seeds move around in the wind. Sure, some fall straight down and land under the tree they came from, but many others are so light and delicate that the slightest breeze carries them away, like the African Tulip seeds (top of seed photo). We also found seeds from trees not in our yard! How did they get here?! Both of my kids were delighted when I showed them how the Tipuana Tipu seeds (at the bottom of our seed photo) spin and whirl like helicopter blades when tossed into the air. These seedpods are everywhere at the moment, so if you see one on your travels be sure to show your kids how they fly. They’re better than any paper plane you could fold and will entertain your kids for ages. Even my twelve month old got the giggles over these!
Before a gardening guru says it, I know… both of the species I mentioned are introduced and not ones we actually want to encourage to germinate in our gardens!! You have to admit that they have fascinating and highly effective methods of seed dispersal though, which is why they are fast becoming recognised as “weeds”. This would make a great discussion if you have older kids.
To make sure we don’t add to the weed-problem we’ll just use the seeds for craft 
Wow! How do you know so much about seeds?
Love your collection.
Um… I don’t know. Bird nerd, nature girl, science teacher. But probably most of all because my parents love nature and shared that with my sister and I as kids!!
Beautiful, the Tipuana Tipu seeds look like the litte twitter bird at the top of your blog. Are you able to paint these or are they a bit delicate?
You really do live up to your description of Ideas and inspiration, while I go and rake our yard everyday at the moment you find the beauty in what falls on it and create a wonderful activity. Thanks for sharing Cath.
Oh my goodness Nicole – you’re right!! How come I’ve never thought they look like birds before?? Stay tuned for a post on us painting them now. LOL Thanks!!! xx
Oh can’t wait to see your painted seeds… have seen the more gorgeous painted gum leaves!
So jealous of your great variety of seed pods… pretty much all we have here is gum nuts. But I’m sure I’ve seen a paper aeroplane version of those twirly seeds somewhere, which might be fun for those of us who are twirly seed deprived!
Our collections end up glued and painted too
Much cheaper than buying ‘stuff’ from the craft shop!
Im a bit like Peter Pan, never really grew up.
Cath,
what a delightful post! My two children and i have a nature collection which includes some of the funkiest seed pods i’ve ever seen. Some were collected by me as a child.
don’t forget to talk to your children about the fact that with trees, what you see above, you generally find below. that is, the roots of a tree mimics its branch structure. interesting huh?!
x
Love this post Catherine! You must live in a terrific place to be able to collect so many varieties of seed pods.
I had to giggle that both our most recent posts stated that we were having a “much needed” day at home. A busy but great week for you too? Lovely to end the week this way! *sigh*
On our daily rounds looking for fairies we also collect seeds and all sorts of fascinating finds we see in our garden. We have been making collages, but now we are using our bits and pieces to see if we can make “furniture” for fairies. My little girl has recently developed a fascination for painting rocks and turning them into pet rocks.
What gorgeous imagery Cath. I can just imagine hunting for pods in the sunshine, under the trees. You’ve inspired me to get out into the backyard tomorrow with my girls.