The ground and weather may not be warm enough for outside planting, but how about planting inside? Here’s a planting seeds activity your child can do.
Sunflowers, beans, and corn are easy seeds to plant, plus they grow quickly too. Lima beans are nice big seeds. While planting seeds in soil is much easier for later transplanting, it’s really hard to wait even a few days for a sprout to poke up out of the ground. We can’t make soil invisible, but we can use a few different ways so kids can see the sprouts and roots start to grow.
Soak a few seeds overnight in a bowl of water. A clear plastic glove or ziplock plastic bag can become a mini greenhouse for growing a seed. First, kids wet some paper towel or cotton balls and place in the bottom of a ziplock bag. A coffee filter will also work. Little hands may need to squeeze whatever you use to make sure it is just damp, not wet. Rest a seed on the paper or cotton, or tuck it in the folded coffee filter. Before closing the bag, give it a puff or two of air so it’s not flat. Then, hang the bag in a warm window. (We tried a penny to see if we could grow a money tree.)
Generally, sprouting takes only a few days. The seeds won’t need re-watering very often if at all. Condensation should build up a little on the inside of the bag. Once or perhaps twice a week for more water is usually enough. It’s so exciting to see roots come down and sprouts go up. Talk to your child about these different parts of the plant. Do they look the same? What’s different about them.
A cd case is another option for a planting seeds activity. So is a clear plastic cup, although it will require watering more often. If you saved any seeds from carving pumpkins, try a couple of these. Once the seed has sprouted, it can be carefully planted in a cup of dirt and set on a windowsill. In a few weeks, it may be warm enough to be transplanted outside.
Isn’t this simple planting seeds activity a great way to connect with nature and for kids to have a hands-on experience with science?