Sunflowers are one of those plants that practically invite children to take a closer look. Their bright yellow petals, tall green stems, broad leaves, and easy-to-recognize seeds make them a wonderful choice for an early science lesson. I created this parts of a sunflower worksheet to give preschool and kindergarten children a simple, hands-on way to learn the basic parts of a sunflower while practicing cutting, matching, and pasting at the same time.
This free printable works especially well for a sunflower theme, plant unit, gardening theme, spring science lesson, or fall sunflower activity. Instead of simply memorizing plant vocabulary, children get to identify each part and place its name in the correct location on the sunflower.
Free Parts of a Sunflower Worksheet
I wanted to keep this parts of a sunflower worksheet simple enough for younger learners without packing the page with too much information at once.
The printable focuses on five easy-to-identify sunflower parts:
- Flower
- Leaf
- Stem
- Roots
- Seed
Children cut out the five vocabulary labels at the bottom of the worksheet and paste each word beside the correct part of the sunflower. The arrows help guide children toward the part they need to identify, making the activity approachable for preschool and kindergarten learners.
I included both a black-and-white and color version, so you can choose whichever works best for your lesson. The black-and-white page also gives children the opportunity to color their sunflower before or after completing the labeling activity.
What Children Can Learn With This Parts of a Sunflower Worksheet
Although this looks like a simple cut-and-paste page, you can use it to practice several early learning skills at once.
Children are building science vocabulary as they become familiar with the words flower, leaf, stem, roots, and seed. They’re also practicing visual discrimination as they match each word to a specific part of the sunflower.
Cutting apart the labels and gluing them into position adds a little fine motor practice too. I think activities like this work especially well for younger children because the learning isn’t limited to filling in blanks with a pencil.
Plant-part activities are commonly used with young learners to introduce roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and seeds. Hands-on activities can then help children connect those vocabulary words to an actual growing plant.
Learning the Parts of a Sunflower
Before children complete the worksheet, spend a few minutes looking at the sunflower together.
You don’t need to turn it into a long science lesson. For preschool and kindergarten, a short explanation of what children can see and what each part does is plenty.
Flower
The flower is the large, colorful part at the top of the plant. On a sunflower, this is probably the part children will recognize first.
Ask children to point to the flower on their worksheet before finding the matching flower label.
Leaves
The leaves grow from the stem. You can ask children what color leaves usually are or have them count the leaves shown on the printable.
If you have access to a real sunflower or another plant, compare the leaves on the worksheet with the leaves on your real plant.
Stem
The stem is the long part that supports the sunflower above the ground.
Have children trace their finger from the bottom of the stem all the way up toward the flower. This is an easy way to help them visually separate the stem from the roots.
Roots
The roots are underneath the soil.
Because roots usually aren’t visible when children look at flowers growing outdoors, this is a great opportunity to talk about what is happening underneath the ground.
For an extra hands-on science activity, children can observe the roots of a sprouted sunflower. Growing sunflower sprouts can give young learners a chance to see roots, stems, and leaves firsthand rather than only seeing them in a diagram.
Seed
The worksheet also includes a separate sunflower seed for children to identify and label.
If you have sunflower seeds available, place a few beside the worksheet so children can compare a real seed with the illustration. It turns a one-page printable into a much more concrete little science lesson.
How to Use the Parts of a Sunflower Worksheet
Start by printing the version you would like to use. The black-and-white version is a good choice when you want children to color the sunflower themselves, while the color version works well when you want to focus primarily on identifying the plant parts.
Review the five words together before cutting anything apart. Point to the flower, leaf, stem, roots, and seed and say each word aloud.
Next, children can cut apart the vocabulary boxes along the bottom of the page. Have them look at each arrow, decide which sunflower part it points toward, and place the matching word inside the empty box.
I recommend having children set all five labels in place before gluing. That gives them a chance to change their answers if they discover that a word belongs somewhere else.
Once everything looks right, they can glue the labels into place.
Using This Sunflower Worksheet for Preschool
For preschoolers, I would concentrate more on recognizing and naming the sunflower parts than on expecting children to read every vocabulary word independently.
You can read each label aloud and ask the child to find the matching part. For example, say, “Can you find the stem?” and allow the child to point to it before placing the word.
If cutting all five labels is too difficult, an adult can cut them apart ahead of time. The child can then concentrate on matching and gluing.
You could also complete only two or three labels at first and add the remaining words as the child becomes more comfortable with the vocabulary.
Using the Parts of a Sunflower Worksheet for Kindergarten
Kindergarten children may be ready for a little more independence.
After reviewing the vocabulary, let children complete the labeling activity on their own. When they’re finished, ask them to point to each part as they read or repeat its name.
You can extend the activity with simple questions such as, “Which part is underneath the soil?” or “Which part holds up the flower?”
Another natural next step is discussing what plants need to grow, including sunlight, water, air, and soil. That moves the lesson from simply identifying plant structures into beginning life science.
Turn Your Parts of a Sunflower Worksheet Into a Hands-On Science Lesson
A printable can introduce the vocabulary, but the real fun begins when children can connect what they see on the page to an actual plant.
If sunflowers are growing nearby, take the worksheet outside and see how many of the parts children can find on a real sunflower.
You can also plant sunflower seeds in a clear or small container and observe what happens as they begin to grow. Children can look for the first roots, watch the stem emerge, and observe the leaves developing.
Another idea is to provide a sunflower seed, leaf, and flower photograph for children to examine with a magnifying glass.
These simple observations help make words such as roots, stem, and leaves more meaningful because children aren’t only memorizing labels.
Picture Books to Pair With a Sunflower Lesson
Adding a picture book is an easy way to turn this free parts of a sunflower worksheet into a more complete homeschool or classroom lesson.
A few sunflower and seed-themed books to look for include:
From Seed to Sunflower by Gerald Legg
A helpful choice for introducing how a sunflower grows from a seed.
A Seed Is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston
A beautifully illustrated book that introduces children to the fascinating variety of seeds.
Sunflower House by Eve Bunting
A sweet story that can pair nicely with a sunflower or gardening theme.
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
A familiar choice for exploring seeds, plants, growth, and the plant life cycle.
After reading, come back to the worksheet and ask children if they noticed any of the sunflower or plant parts from their printable in the book.
Make a Sunflower Paper Plate Craft
After children complete their parts of a sunflower worksheet, you can continue the lesson with this simple sunflower paper plate craft. I created this craft to go along with my sunflower activities, and I love how it gives children another opportunity to identify the flower, stem, and leaves while creating their own sunflower.
The printable sunflower craft template is included in my Sunflower Activity Worksheets and Life Cycle pack in my TPT shop, so you can easily add the craft to a larger sunflower or plant unit.
Supplies for Your Sunflower Craft
You will need a paper plate, the printable sunflower template, yellow and green paint or crayons, brown construction paper, scissors, and glue.
How to Make the Sunflower Paper Plate Craft
Start by coloring or painting the paper plate yellow. Place the sunflower template over the plate, trace around the outside edge, and cut it out to create the sunflower petals.
Next, cut the large circle from brown construction paper and glue it in the center of the sunflower. Cut the stem and leaves from green construction paper. Glue the stem behind the sunflower and attach the two leaves to the stem. Let everything dry before displaying your finished sunflower.
While children are assembling their flowers, you can reinforce the vocabulary from the parts of a sunflower worksheet by asking them to point out the flower, stem, and leaves. You can also talk about the parts that aren’t shown on the finished craft, such as the roots and seeds.
If you want to turn this into a larger sunflower study, you can find the printable paper plate craft template along with my other sunflower learning activities in my Sunflower Activity Worksheets and Life Cycle pack in my TPT shop.
More Sunflower Printables for Preschool and Kindergarten
If you’re planning an entire sunflower theme, you don’t have to stop with the parts of a sunflower worksheet.
I also have more free sunflower worksheets that can help children practice early math, literacy, handwriting, fine motor, and science skills. You can pair this printable with sunflower tracing, counting, letter activities, shapes, a sunflower life cycle, a maze, a word search, and other hands-on sunflower activities.
Using several activities around the same theme can make it easier to reinforce skills while keeping the subject familiar for young learners.
This labeling page can serve as your introductory science activity, and then you can choose additional sunflower worksheets based on the skills your child or students need to practice.
Also, be sure to checkout my TPT shop for more sunflower and/or fall resources.
Pin This Parts of a Sunflower Worksheet for Later
Planning a sunflower, flower, gardening, spring, or plant science unit?
Save this parts of a sunflower worksheet to Pinterest so you can find it when you’re ready to teach your next plant lesson.
It can be especially handy to save alongside your preschool science activities, kindergarten science worksheets, sunflower activities, or plant life cycle resources.
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A Simple Sunflower Science Activity for Young Learners
Learning about plants doesn’t have to begin with a complicated science unit. Sometimes a single flower provides plenty to explore.
I created this parts of a sunflower worksheet to make an introductory sunflower lesson easy for parents and teachers while still giving children something meaningful to do. They can identify the flower, leaf, stem, roots, and seed while practicing cutting, matching, and gluing along the way.
Pair the worksheet with a sunflower picture book, a real sunflower or seed, and the paper plate craft, and you have an easy hands-on sunflower lesson that combines science, literacy, fine motor practice, and art.
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