A little while ago I wrote a post on seed germination for kids. 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!) 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.
So, without further ado, here are our results, and some fabulous seed activities for kids!
One of the reasons I love doing seed germination for kids is how quickly the seeds start to grow. It was Day 2 this time when our first seed started to root. And by the next day there were sprouts too.
By Day 5, three of our four seeds were growing strong. 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 nights 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 towel – 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. And 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 are looking for more seed activities for kids, I have 35 all set! You can check them out right here:
And if you are looking to get crafty with seeds, I’ve got a blog post for that too! You can check out lots of seed art ideas here:
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
Emma @ P is for Preschooler says
April 4, 2014 at 3:32 pmThe 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! 🙂
Carissashere says
February 11, 2016 at 10:52 pmReally 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!
Theresa says
February 15, 2019 at 4:44 pmWe always had the best success with nasturtium seeds.
Sarah says
February 19, 2019 at 9:12 pmOh interesting Theresa! I have never tried sprouting these seeds. I will have to give it a go!
christina says
March 5, 2021 at 2:00 pmHi, 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
Sarah says
March 8, 2021 at 10:51 amHi 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!
Faith says
April 11, 2021 at 10:35 pmWhere 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.
Sarah says
April 12, 2021 at 7:23 pmHi Faith! Yes, any store at all. The dollarstore carries seeds as well. I hope you have fun!
Faith says
April 11, 2021 at 10:38 pmAlso, where in the jar did you put the seeds? On the sides? Do I put the different types of seeds in different jars?
Sarah says
April 12, 2021 at 7:28 pmYes! 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!