A little while ago, I wrote a post on seed germination for kids where I showed you exactly how we set up a seed germination experiment using glass jars, paper towels, water, and of course, seeds! In that post, I told you I would do a follow-up post on the seed activities for kids we did as the seeds were growing, and about the results of which seeds grew fastest (or grew at all!).
Well, wonderful news! You no longer need to wait with bated breath—the results are in! We have found out which seeds sprout the fastest, which are the easiest to grow, and which simply look AWESOME.
But before we get started, be sure to download your free seed germination tracker for your little to record what they observe!
So, without further ado, here are our results as well as some fabulous seed activities for kids!
One of the reasons I love doing seed germination with kids is how quickly the seeds start to grow. It was Day 2 this time when our first seed started to root. By the next day, there were sprouts too. And by Day 5, three of our four seeds were growing strong!
These are the seeds that we chose to germinate:
- Snap Pea
- Bean
- Swiss Chard
- Cucumber
Here is a little run down of our results, though yours may, of course, be slightly different.
Day 1 – Despite checking a gazillion times, nothing happened.
Day 2 – Snap Pea rooted.
Day 3 – Snap Pea started to sprout and Bean started to root.
Day 4 – Bean started to sprout and Swiss Chard started to root (though it was tricky to see!).
Day 5 – Snap Pea, Bean, and Swiss Chard were all rooted and sprouting.
Day 6 – Bean overtook Snap Pea for the tallest and strongest plant.
Day 7 – All growing strong! (Except for the Cucumber…)
There you have it! We had the best success with snap pea and bean seeds. Both grew fairly similarly, easily, and strongly. The roots to the snap pea were a bit easier to see, but the bean seed looks really neat as it sprouts!
So, if I were forced to choose between a bean or a snap pea seed to germinate with my little ones, I would choose (after a long and restless night’s sleep debating the choice) a snap pea! The root system on a snap pea is really fascinating—and that is why I do seed germination for kids in clear jars with paper towels: so they can see the root system.
Truthfully, we didn’t do too many activities while we were observing our seeds sprouting. It was mostly casual conversations. But conversations themselves can be one of the most powerful learning tools of all.
We made predictions, comparisons, developed some new vocabulary, and most importantly marveled at how miraculous the whole thing is.
This is one of the very simplest ways to introduce little ones to seed germination. It can be kept as simple as we kept it, or made to be quite the all-encompassing endeavour! Whatever floats your boat. Our boats are currently floated in a shallow stream… some days a puddle…
This is a great seed activity for kids because it is quick, easy, and almost completely fail-safe.
If you’re looking for more seed activities, be sure to check out these 35 Seed Activities for Kids. And if you’re feeling crafty, I have tons of Seed Art Ideas for Kids as well!
I hope you find these seed activities for kids helpful for you and yours! They are such fun for early Spring.
Thank you for reading friends!
xo Sarah
P.S. Don’t forget to download your FREE Seed Germination Tracker:
You’ll also love these How Wee Learn best-sellers:
The fail-safe ones are my favorite! lol! I love that this is just a casual experiment that still puts the roots (pun not intended) of science in their minds! 🙂
Really helpful for my sons science project. I appreciate you sharing a lot! Thank you. We aren’t finished with ours however it’s a little more complicated. But wanted to say again appreciate your share! Great job!
We always had the best success with nasturtium seeds.
Oh interesting Theresa! I have never tried sprouting these seeds. I will have to give it a go!
Hi, Did you just fill the jar up with wet paper towels? really wet? or misted wet? I’m trying to figure out how the seeds sit against the side of the jar.
thanks
Hi Christina,
Great question! The trick is to really fill the jar all the way with paper towels. Rip them off one by one and shove them in the jar. Then add lots of water to wet them down and continue to fill the jar again with the paper towel, wetting them down and repeating until the jar is totally full. Then dump out the excess water and press the seeds in. We then water the jar every two or so days and dump out the excess water. Hope this helps! I actually have a video coming out with more details next week. I will be sure to link it here!
Where can we find the video? Love this idea!
Thank you so much! You can check out the video in this blog post: https://www.howweelearn.com/two-spring-learning-crafts-we-love/
Where did you get your seeds? Is it something I can just get at any store? Thank you. I nanny and always looking for learning amd fun things to do with her.
Hi Faith! Yes, any store at all. The dollarstore carries seeds as well. I hope you have fun!
Also, where in the jar did you put the seeds? On the sides? Do I put the different types of seeds in different jars?
Yes! Once the paper towels are stuffed in the jar you can just slide the seeds in between the jar and the paper towels. You can put them in different jars, or pop them all in the same jar. Anything goes!
Radish seeds sprout really fast as well. I’m a teacher and I use a plastic glove ( the large ones that cafeteria workers use) and instead of paper towels I use cotton balls. One cotton ball and one seed for each finger. Dip the cotton ball in water and wring out the water so that its damp and not dripping. Hope this helps anyone and thanks for the seed ideas!
Great tips, Lindzi! Thank you!
Hi Sarah,
I have done this with many students. I had over 1200 students come to our conservation days and we showed them how to do this. With so many kids buying packaged seed was out of the question, so I just bought a bag of beans from the grocery store and started the process the night before by soaking them overnight. Then the bean seed germinated faster. Also corn seed can be used. Neither need to be soaked but it does speed up the process.
Just found your site. I was looking for fun easy experiments for my grandson who is 3 years old. I taught science for 35 years but, have been away from it and needed some inspiration, you know that oh yea, that would be a great one for him to do.
Thank you.
What a great tip, Brenda! Thank you so much.