Course: Spring Adventure | Propagate Learning

  • General

    Spring Adventure

    To get started read the adventure guide below!


    • Adventure Guide

      Adventure mission: 

      Your mission is to explore the amazing signs of spring all around you and be inspired to create your own spring flower using any technique you like!

      Will you use photography, modelling clay, an ipad? Will you write a poem, paint or draw?

      Will you design a brand new spring flower using an amazing design app - or zoom up close to a real flower to discover the curious patterns, smells and colours? 

      Look through our resource area below to help set you on your creative adventure. Once you have found your inspiration, go and create your flower!

      Activity type: outdoor and/or indoor adventure

      Age: perfect for primary aged children, but great fun for all the family to enjoy together! 

      Share: If you completed this activity with children we would love to see your creations and showcase them in this area to be inspiration for others! If you'd be happy for this please tweet us @RBGE_Education or email schools@rbge.org.uk

    • Are you a teacher?

      This is a great open-ended resource to inspire creativity in your class, as well as encouraging your students to notice the natural world changing through the seasons. It’s an opportunity for you to emphasise the feelings of wellbeing that come when spending quiet time in nature. Children can select an activity that suits their own skills and interests.

      Follow up the Spring Adventure with our 'Life of Plants' online area where we explore more about the life of plants.

    • Step into Spring 

      Let’s start the adventure by stepping through these beautiful spring daffodils at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. 

      Explore the hotspots to find some of the ways you could create your own spring flower. Does one of the hotspots inspire you or do you have a unique idea of your own?

       


      Click here to view the accessible version of this interactive content (link opens in a new window/tab)


    • Maybe you are now inspired and ready to start your spring flower creation. Good luck!

      Once you have completed it, share it with someone you know, and award yourself the special spring adventure badge below.

      If you are still looking for some inspiration, explore any of the ideas below to get you started.

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  • Instructions: Clicking on the section name will show / hide the section.

  • When you hear the word 'spring' what do you think and how does it make you feel?

    Let's visit the Bluebell Wood at Logan Botanic Garden, where you can take time to use your senses. Which colours can you spot? Look for the different shapes in the woods. What sounds do you hear? How does it make you feel?

  • Explore our photo collection of spring flowers for inspiration to use for your creation!

    Choose your favourite way to look at our photos – browse them in our collage or download them from our Lightbox Gallery (which also features their common names).

    • Collage interaction tips:

      • Use the arrows to look through the spring flowers (there are four pages full of spring flowers to explore!). 

      • To view full screen click the square of arrows icon in top right of the interaction, and next to this is an icon with three dots where you can open the interaction in a new tab and also change to accessibility view. 

      • To take a closer look at any image just select it.
    • Lightbox Gallery icon
      Spring Flowers Gallery Lightbox Gallery

  • A helpful first step in designing your creation is to think about which colours you want to use. This is called creating a colour palette and can really help bring your spring flower to life.

    Use the resources in this section to explore different ways to find spring colours.

    • Find Spring Colours for Bees

      In this activity, go outside and look for spring flowers. Many of these flowers have colours and patterns to attract bees on warmer spring days. The bees are collecting pollen and nectar for food and are most attracted to white, yellow, purple and blue flowers. While they collect their food they pollinate the flowers, which helps the flowers make seeds.

      Use this sheet to record the colours you see and keep an eye out for any pollinators visiting the flowers:

    • File icon
      Spring Flowers Colour Spotter (PDF opens in a new tab/window) File

      To save printing we suggest printing a handful which can be laminated and reused. An accessible version is available in Word document format.

    • What colours are bees and other insects seeing?

      Check out this video from Nature Bites where David Attenborough shows us the world through an insect's eyes, viewing plants and flowers in beautiful ultra-violet vision:

    • URL icon
      UV Plants Caught on Camera? | Nature Bites (link opens in a new window/tab) URL

    • Find Spring Colours Digitally

      A good way to find your colour palette is to gather some spring images you like; either use photos of spring flowers you've taken, search online, or photos in the images section above. This is particularly useful if you're creating your spring flower digitally as you'll be able to use the colour codes you pick out from an image.

      Explore the interaction below to find out how we created a colour palette from this image. Select the information icon first and then explore the other hotspots...
      Click here to view the accessible version of this interactive content (link opens in a new window/tab)

  • Why not listen to sounds of spring while you create?

    Go outside and take in the sounds around you or listen to our sounds of spring in this section.

  • In this section let's meet some of our botanical artists and see how they bring plants to life through art!

    Be inspired by seeing our botanical artists in action in the timelapse video below.

    • Meet the Artist

      Let's meet one of the botanical artists who was painting the Titan Arum above and see if they have any advice for your spring creation?



      Let's take a closer look at Jacqui's spring flower creation that she showed us in the video:

       

       

    • Spring Adventure completion badge

      Spring Adventure ✅

      Well done for completing the Spring Adventure!

      View the Spring Adventure badge (opens in a new window/tab) to mark your achievement – there is also a printer friendly version included. An alternative version is available in Word document format where you can edit the name and date before printing.

      We hope you enjoyed it and we hope to see you on another plant adventure soon!

    • Showcase navigation tips:

      • Use the arrows to scroll through
      • To take a closer look at any of the illustrations just click on it
      • For accessibility view go to the three dots in the top right of the showcase
      • To see the creations in all their beauty select the full-screen icon

    • Share your creations!

      If you completed the Spring Adventure with children we would love to see your creations and showcase them in this area to be inspiration for others! If you'd be happy for this please tweet us @RBGE_Education or email schools@rbge.org.uk

      Edinburgh Learns Digital Spring with Sketchbook

      Our Spring Adventure was inspired by the Spring with Sketchbook Challenge run by Edinburgh Learns Digital which RBGE had the pleasure of supporting. We have featured the winning creations from this challenge in the showcase above. Read more about the challenge and the winners in this article (link will open in a new window/tab).

  • Explore the following additional resources (all links below open in a new window/tab):

    • URL icon
      Life of Plants URL

      Explore more learning about the life of plants in our 'Life of Plants' online area - ideal for Primary 4-7 [8-12 years].
    • URL icon
      Teacher Patch URL

      Teachers if you'd like to go on more plant adventures with your class check out the Teacher Patch area which grows a mix of learning resources to use in the classroom, outdoors or as homework activities. 
    • URL icon
      Plant-Kind URL
      Discover and get involved in wonderful ways to be Plant-Kind with our new interactive resource!
    • URL icon
      Nature Detectives Spring Activities URL

      For more spring activities check out the Woodland Trust - Nature Detectives resources!