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Gardening with Preschoolers: Germinating Bean Seeds

May 11, 2011 by madincrafts 22 Comments

bean seed growth 

 

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.

 

bean seed square

 

 

To germinate bean seeds, you will need:

bean seeds,

plastic zipper bags,

paper towels,

water,

and a curious preschooler.

 

preschool gardening activity

 

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.

 

bean seed project

 

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.

 

bean seed in baggie activity

 

Slip the paper towel into the baggie.  Place one bean seed between the towel and the bag and zip it closed.

 

germinating beans in plastic bags

 

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.

 

waiting to germinate

 

Check the bags each day for progress.  If your child is a little older, you could have him chart or journal the progress.

 

condensation forming

 

Over time, condensation will build up on the inside of the bag.

 

bean seed in plastic bag

 

After a few days (five for us), the seeds will begin to sprout!

 

germinating a bean seed in a plastic bag

 

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.

 

bean seedling labels

 

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.

Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: affiliate, dollar store, gardening, germinating seeds, kids craft, plants, Spring, tutorial

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Comments

  1. lisbonlioness says

    May 11, 2011 at 12:51 pm

    Never mind the preschoolers, I want to try this myself! 😀

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    November 17, 2011 at 5:17 am

    I do it every year and the kids are amazed!!!

    Reply
  3. Sarah says

    April 25, 2014 at 12:19 am

    So cool! I’d love to try this with my class to send home. At what stage would you suggest potting the germinated seed?

    Reply
  4. Lisa Harrington says

    April 22, 2015 at 11:40 pm

    Doesn’t the inside of the bag get moldy? How does the plant have enough air to grow?

    Reply
    • madincrafts says

      April 23, 2015 at 11:32 am

      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!

      Reply
  5. Edith Mayer says

    July 14, 2015 at 2:33 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • madincrafts says

      July 14, 2015 at 10:17 pm

      Fantastic! Thanks for the comment!

      Reply
  6. Hayley says

    August 10, 2016 at 4:06 am

    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.

    Reply
  7. Carly says

    April 3, 2018 at 12:09 am

    lol im in middle school and i want to do this. Forget Preschoolers i need to plant some beans.

    Reply
    • madincrafts says

      April 3, 2018 at 12:47 pm

      Do it!

      Reply
  8. Carly says

    April 3, 2018 at 12:11 am

    When should the bean be taken out of the bag and put in the soil?

    Reply
    • madincrafts says

      April 3, 2018 at 12:47 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Me says

        April 18, 2018 at 11:15 am

        Does it matter what kind of beans you use?

        Reply
        • madincrafts says

          April 18, 2018 at 11:44 am

          I don’t think so!

          Reply
  9. Kathleen Beaulieu says

    April 29, 2018 at 7:28 pm

    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

    Reply
    • madincrafts says

      April 29, 2018 at 8:02 pm

      You should be able to highlight the URL from your browser bar, copy that, and paste it in to an email or FB message.

      Reply
  10. Kimberly says

    July 9, 2018 at 8:23 am

    What a fun, I want to try this myself! Maybe I would let the kids help, if they are good ha-ha

    Reply
  11. Seasons01 says

    August 1, 2019 at 5:02 pm

    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.

    Reply

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