GROWING SEEDS WITH MY TODDLER

As a child planting seeds was one of my favorite activities. I've always had a fascination with science. Which is why I was so excited to begin gardening with Ashur. Watching seeds grow is an awesome science lesson for children.

For our April spring learning theme Ashur and I planted sunflowers, peas and Lima beans. We bought our seeds from Walmart for about $2 each. The remaining items we bought from the Dollar store(including soil), with the exception of an extra mason jar I found in my cabinet.

Ashur used an old Star wars cup to scoop the soil into the jar and planting pots. He decided he wanted to put multiple seeds in each pot, so I planted individual seeds(not pictured) just in case things didn't go well! I wouldn't suggest putting so many seeds as Ashur did, 2-3 seeds in each pot is enough.

For one of the vases we used cotton balls and pushed a few seeds close to the glass in the mason jar. This is one visual way to teach children about the root system, as they watch the seeds sprout and grow.

During the growing process we talk about what plants need to grow, examine roots and discuss how plants absorb water, and different life cycles. We placed three plants under a light and two by a window. Unfortunately our beans didn't go well, he decided to play with his sprout house. No worries we are re-planting!

Ashur's favorite are the sun flowers . He was amazed at how fast they sprouted after a few days. His words, " wowwww the sun flowers are growing, that's so cool"! It's exciting to know that he loves science just as much as I do!