Links to the story | Key Stage 2 and 3 programmes of study | Possible learning outcomes | Big ideas |
| The mistletoe bough and New Year’s Eve | discovering how seeds are formed by observing the different stages of plant life cycles over a period of time; [KS2 Science] | Understand how the mistletoe makes seeds and how these seeds are dispersed to new plants | adventures in time and space being and becoming folklore life depend depends on life organisms are organised winter stories Cycles Interdependence Adaptation Oneness Health |
The mistletoe plant produces separate male and female plants depends upon:
- the male and female flowers opening at the same time
- the production of nectar and scent to attract early insects to the flowers
- to carry pollen to the female flower
- to produce seeds
- in a fruit surrounded by sticky substances
- that birds eat
- and transfer to the surfaces of new trees
- where the seeds will germinate when the conditions are right.
The folklore tales remain important because it shows how closely the lives of people were tied to seasonal changes in their environment. Mistletoe production could be relied upon. Kissing under the mistletoe harks back to the ancient beliefs that this plant could grant fertility, because it was so special, never having its roots in the soil.