Daycare provider Anita Schaefer loves bringing the garden into her at-home daycare. One of her favorite activities for little ones is a seed starting comparison activity. Kiddos as young as 18 months are able to plant seeds in cups of soil and watch them grow. Slightly older kids are able to guess which seeds will grow the biggest and make observations to test their hypothesis: do bigger seeds yield bigger plants?
Supplies: An assortment of seeds. Soil. Cups. Water. Marker.
Optional: Examples of fully grown produce.
Steps:
- Select your assortment of seeds. Anita likes to use those from the “cucurbit” family: vining squashes, melons and gourds. From tiny “cucamelons” to cucumbers to cantaloupe and pumpkins, these seeds look similar but vary in size. While all of these plants can vine into huge patches, in general, the size of the seed corresponds to the overall girth of the stem and size of the leaves. The size of the fruit, however, doesn’t necessarily correspond to the size of the seed (for example, the range of sizes in something like pumpkin varieties is vastly greater than the range in size of their seeds)
- Introduce the kids to the seeds and the fruits they produce. Using seed packets, books and photos is a great way to show off which seeds correspond to which fruits. Anita likes to make snacks that incorporate these fruits and veggies to reinforce the idea that those tiny seeds will one day grow into real food.
- Have the kids sort the seeds from smallest to largest and make predictions. Will the bigger seeds yield bigger plants? Do the biggest seeds make the biggest fruits?
- Have the kids plant the seeds in cups. Even the tiniest tots can help with big seeds like pumpkins and squash. Watch this tutorial to learn more about starting seeds. Be sure to label which seeds are in which cups.
- Cucurbit seeds tend to sprout fairly quickly. After a few days, you should see signs of germination. Have the kids check on and water the plants periodically, keeping track of which are growing biggest and fastest. Are the biggest seeds making the biggest plants?
- If you have space, you can transplant the seeds out to your garden. If not, send them home with the kids or compost once they get too big for your space.