5 Fun Facts About Flowers for Kids Who Love Them

Everyone knows that flowers have petals and smell nice. You probably also know that bees and butterflies land on them and gather their nectar. They also spread flower pollen. But, there are other interesting facts about flowers for kids who really want to dig in to learning about these amazing structures. Here are five things I bet you didn’t know.

5 Fun Facts About Flowers for Kids

Flowers Open and Close Because of What Time It Is

That’s right! Plants have a sort of “internal clock,” according to research. This research shows that they know when sunrise and sunset are approaching and respond accordingly. This “clock” is based on two light receptors (not chlorophyll) and temperature. So, it is possible to manipulate a plant’s clock to cause more plant growth or to make all the plants in a greenhouse bloom at the same time. Some people have even thought that you could tell time based on what time of day different flowers bloomed. However, that idea never worked. It turns out that it wasn’t entirely reliable. But, still. Flowers show that plants can tell time. Sort of.

Another Fun Fact About Flowers for Kids: Flowers Can Teach You Some Cool Math

Have you ever heard of Fibonacci numbers? Well, you can find Fibonacci numbers in nature quite a lot, especially in flowers. What are these special numbers, you might ask, and why should you care? Well, Fibonacci numbers are a pattern that forms a spiral. Here is how it goes. You start with 1, 2, and 3. But then it gets interesting because the Fibonacci pattern is that the next number is the sum of the previous two numbers. So, after 3 comes 5 because 3+2=5. Then 8, 13, 21, 34, and so on. When you divide each number by the previous number, you get the Golden Ratio, which is called the Most Beautiful Number in the Universe. This ratio can be seen in all living things and is the very fingerprint of God, in my opinion.

Each Flower Has a Hidden Bull’s Eye

Did you know that the most important part of a flower is hidden to the human eye? That’s right. With all their visible beautiful color, it’s amazing that the invisible ultraviolet coloration that guides insects to the valuable nectar of flowers. These patterns mark a bull’s eye that points directly to where the bees and butterflies need to go. How about that for a fun fact about flowers for kids? Go deeper with learning about the pistil, stamens, and other flower parts used to produce nectar by studying plant parts.

Flowers Can Call for Help

Did you know that flowers can talk to each other? Yes! They use special chemicals to tell each other when they are under attack from insects. And then, flowers can release other chemicals that attract the insects’ predators. So, for example, when aphids attack plants, flowers might release chemicals that attract ladybugs to come and eat them. (And another fun fact about aphids is that ants keep them in the same way that we keep cows. Ants “milk” the aphids!) And, chemicals trigger the other plants to make chemicals that kill or repel the aphids that might come to them. Neat, huh?

Some Flowers You Can Eat!

Some flowers are even edible, such as zucchini blossoms and lavender blooms. These can make beautiful accents, delicious appetizers, or bright additions to salads. Be careful, though, not all flowers are edible and some flowers are even poisonous. Make sure you learn which flowers are okay to eat.

Enjoy flowers and learn more about their secrets!

Want to hear more about flowers? What would they tell you if they could talk? Find out in my Flowering Plants curriculum, Helia and Zea: A Flowering Plants Study for Kids!