A favorite activity in the spring is to plant a bean or other seed. Did you do this growing up and are you doing it now with your children?
If you happen to be a Pinterest fan (or addict, like some of us) you will see dozens and dozens of ideas for planting bean seeds. Last year we tried the seed in a ziplock bag and it worked well. An idea from strongstart.blogspot.com showed a big plastic glove which meant we could plant 5 seeds, or at least 5 different things.
First, pick up some inexpensive transparent plastic gloves, the bigger the better. Next, wet one cotton ball for each finger and give it a squeeze. While big hands hold the glove open, little hands can drop one cotton ball into each space along with one seed. Here is what we used:
- one bean seed to grow a beanstalk like Jack and the Beanstalk,
- one pea seed since we’d just read the Princess and the Pea and seeds are much harder than a cooked or frozen one,
- one corn seed for the scarecrow,
- a penny to see if we could grow a money tree,
- and a piece of a cookie like the story Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree.
Close over the top of the bag and tape in a window. The warm spring sun will warm up the seeds and the plastic glove will keep the moisture from the cotton balls recycling inside. It will be easy to see the sprout and roots.
One advantage of the glove is that once the baby plant is ready, it should be simple to carefully cut the end of the finger and slide the plant out. If the leaves are too big the plant might need to pushed upwards. If it’s still too cold at night, the plant might be better in a cup or pot until it’s warm enough.
We can hardly wait for our seeds to sprout. Maybe, while waiting, we can listen to a story?