Today I want to share some reflection questions and a worksheet for a popular story among children, classrooms, and families. It is called Seeds and Trees by Brandon Walden. It is a perfect story to help kids handle both positive and negative comments from others.
The book is available on Amazon here.
You can also watch a reading of the book in this video from Book Nook:
Seeds and Trees Summary
As the author writes in the introduction:
“Seeds and Trees is a story about the power of words.”
A prince carries around seeds in a satchel. The seeds are words that someone has spoken. The prince received a lot of seeds from a lot of different people. Every day he watered the seeds. The green seeds were nice words about him. The dark seeds brought pain. These words were not kind. The dark trees grew and the branches became thorny. The prince got hurt climbing these trees. So, he went to the green trees to find safety and healing. Both trees grew together in competition with one another. The prince met a friend who only spoke good words, giving him good seeds. She helped him cut down the dark trees from the people whose words about him were not kind. She even helped him dig up the dark roots. She taught him to get rid of the dark seeds from that point forward.
Seeds and Trees Reflection Questions
- What kinds of things do people say that turn into green trees? Which words turn into dark trees?
- What are some words you have heard from others that turn into green trees? Which ones have turned into dark trees?
- What did the prince’s good friend do for him and his trees?
- Which friends do you have like this who speak good words and help you forget about the bad things people say about you?
- How can you throw away the dark seeds (the negative words from others)?
Seeds and Trees Worksheet
This Seeds and Trees worksheet will help kids reflect on the compliments that have been the goods seeds in their lives. They will also think about the negative words and criticism that led to the dark trees. Finally, they will think about the people who help them overcome criticism and cut down the dark trees.
Download and print your copy of the worksheet here:
