If you have little ones in the house, this activity is an easy and fun way to teach them about seeds and plant germination.
This project has been around for years, and you can find a great lesson plan done by the Smithsonian HERE.
To germinate bean seeds, you will need:
bean seeds,
plastic zipper bags,
paper towels,
water,
and a curious preschooler.
I started by having a conversation with my son about how plants grow. Thanks to Blue’s Clues, he already knew that plants need water, sun, soil, and air to grow.
We talked about how in every seed there is a tiny plant and food to help it grow. This concept might be foreign to preschoolers, in which case, a seed that has been soaked in water overnight can be sliced in two to reveal the inside of the seed.
When a seed first starts to grow, it is called germination. Germination can be done without soil.
The first step in creating a plastic bag “greenhouse” is to wet a folded paper towel. It should hold a fair amount of water, but not be dripping wet.
Slip the paper towel into the baggie. Place one bean seed between the towel and the bag and zip it closed.
The bags need to be in a sunny place, so I found that taping them to a window that gets direct sunlight is a good way to go.
Check the bags each day for progress. If your child is a little older, you could have him chart or journal the progress.
Over time, condensation will build up on the inside of the bag.
After a few days (five for us), the seeds will begin to sprout!
After a few more days, you should be able to see the roots spreading out and the leaves beginning to peek out of the seed coat.
You will need to explain to your preschooler that these seeds are just germinating (starting to grow). Since they are not growing in nutritious soil, eventually they will wither.
Next week, I will be sharing another Gardening with Preschoolers idea as part of The Brassy Apple’s S.O.S. series.
Never mind the preschoolers, I want to try this myself! 😀
I do it every year and the kids are amazed!!!
So cool! I’d love to try this with my class to send home. At what stage would you suggest potting the germinated seed?
Doesn’t the inside of the bag get moldy? How does the plant have enough air to grow?
The seed germinates quickly, so there isn't enough time for mold to grow. The seed doesn't need air to germinate — a seed germinating underground doesn't have air either. You do have to get rid of the seed after it germinates. You could try transplanting it, but I have never tried that successfully. Hope that helps!
My daughter is three and asks tons of questions about seeds and what happens to them when they’re in the soil. She saw a scheme of seed germination in some of my books and knowing it’s a bean on the picture she wanted to know if this was a “worm eating the bean”. I explained to her that there was no worm, but a part of the seed, but the questions that came after that were many and many. Thank you for this idea, now I can show Ruby the whole growing process and this will do abetter work than my explanations. Greets!
Fantastic! Thanks for the comment!
These pictures are very good for young kids to learn the process of germination of a green bean plant. The statements at the bottom of the pictures explain what is happening in the the pictures.
lol im in middle school and i want to do this. Forget Preschoolers i need to plant some beans.
Do it!
When should the bean be taken out of the bag and put in the soil?
I have never tried growing a seed that we germinated in a bag. This is mostly to show young children what happens to the seed as it begins to grow.
Does it matter what kind of beans you use?
I don’t think so!
Hi ~ I am having a difficult time sharing this with my co-teacher ~ I’ve tried both FB and mail but nothing is copied.
Help
You should be able to highlight the URL from your browser bar, copy that, and paste it in to an email or FB message.
What a fun, I want to try this myself! Maybe I would let the kids help, if they are good ha-ha
The summer school did this with the teenagers this year. :0) I came to see how to pot it properly.. not sure if I have to put it in a cup first or go straight for the ground… time to do some more Googling.
We are doing this at our Grange, for Junior Grangers it will fun for them. A few kids are preschoolers; last year they planted a garden (with help) so they will see what happens under the soil, with the seeds.