What better way to learn than through the wonders of nature? From tiny seeds come mighty plants, and we get to witness it all! With these plant science activities, you’ll help your kids uncover fascinating facts about plant life as they watch a seed sprout with their own eyes. YOU may even learn something new as you teach all about plants!
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Garden Lesson Plans
Life Cycle of Plants
Planting Seeds with Toddlers
My daughter is absolutely captivated by the wondrous process of planting and growing something from seed. She runs down to see her sprout in the greenhouse every day!
To introduce her to this life cycle, we read a flipbook outlining the life stages of plants with simple text and visuals. We looked at a poster together that walked us through each step of growth with accompanying cards for sequencing them out!
And after we planted our sprout in the soil, my little one had even more fun tracking progress on a graph complete with spaces for measuring height and counting leaves – all topped off with spots for pictures!
Don’t have plant pots for the whole class? Why not try repurposing water bottles into plant pots?
Start by using a utility knife to cut about two inches from the bottom of each bottle. Then drill holes in their lids for extra drainage – toddlers have green thumbs but no self-control! Finally, flip them top down inside the remaining portion of each bottle before adding soil & seeds, and sit tight while awaiting your first sprout.
Materials:
- All About Plants Science Activities
- plastic bags
- plant pots or plastic bottles
- bean seeds
- paper towels
Plants' needs
Plant Science Activities
Music and plants? What a perfect combination for learning something new! To introduce our leafy friends’ needs, we sang “I’m a Little Seed” by none other than your favorite artist: B Swift (me).
After that earworm was planted (heh heh), it was time to check out the diagram showing the four main needs for plants to live. We used sensory bottles filled with golden glitter representing sunlight, blue water plus more sparkles equaling H2O, soil…and wait for it – iridescent glitter symbolizing air!
Finally, this science-filled jam session was wrapped up by sorting cards into different categories so everybody had an idea of what love a plant truly needs.
Materials:
- All About Plants Science Activities
- 4 water bottles or sensory bottles
- glitter
- blue gems (Dollar Tree)
- soil
- white & yellow pompoms
- water
- yellow rice
Parts of a Plant
Garden Play Dough Invitation
Give your students the chance to become green-fingered gurus and craft plants from play dough, rocks, leaves, gems – even recycled bits! What imaginative creations will they come up with?
And make their learning unforgettable by giving them extra large arrows to label the parts of a plant. Let’s get growing together in plant science exploration!
Materials:
- Parts of a Plant labels
- serving tray (Dollar Tree)
- rocks
- white yarn
- wooden leaves (craft store)
- applesauce pouch caps
- mini flower beads
- green pipe cleaners
- cookie cutters
Plant parts we eat
Plant Science Activities for Kids
It’s amazing how something as small and simple as a plant can provide us with so much nourishment – yet there are some of us who have never stopped to consider which parts we’re actually eating! I certainly didn’t before this activity. Um, broccoli is a flower?!? Mindblown.
To give the kiddos an opportunity to explore this mind-blowing concept, I asked guiding questions such as “What do you notice about stems? Can you find any foods that are long and skinny like stems?”.
With these guiding prompts, they were able to discover for themselves what part of each plant makes up our typical meals. Ya learn something new every day.
Materials:
- Plant Parts We Eat Sorting Cards
- vegetables to taste (carrots, celery, broccoli, sunflower seeds, etc.)
Plant Life cycle Game
Garden Science Activities
Learning has never been easier or more enjoyable than with Planty Land! This exciting game is like Candy Land; only instead of traveling through Peppermint Forest or Molasses Swamp, kids will travel through the life cycle of plants.
Draw a card showing one part of the plant life cycle, and move to the next available space that matches.
Materials:
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MORE Garden Activities for Preschoolers
I hope that you and your little ones can truly grow a love of learning about plants by planting your own seeds and watching them grow. These plant science activities can open up a world of discovery that helps young kids develop scientific thinking skills, reinforce basic facts, and build an appreciation for nature. So let’s get started – set up your plant science center and share those mini green-thumb moments with your students!
