Learning about seeds

Here’s a glance at one of our latest projects: Learning About Seeds.

The children often encountered seeds… orange pips, grape seeds, beans in pods, fluffy dandelions… Nathan had asked me before about how a seed becomes a plant and where various fruits come from. So with the arrival of Spring, it was an ideal time to turn this into a learning activity and put our little green thumbs to work.

We kicked things off during mat time/story time by reading a book about seeds (‘A Seed Needs Sun’ by Kate Riggs). We talked a little about plants and seeds and gardening.

After that we transitioned to have some morning tea. I served up some fruit with seeds (take care if you have really little ones). I also showed them a fresh whole broad bean pod (which I had precooked) and let them try eating the beans straight out of the pod. We examined the beans and seeds as we ate our fruit and snack.

Then I showed the children the packet of broad bean seeds. I poured out the seeds on the table for the children to examine. We talked through the process of how we would plant them.

After morning tea, we went out into the garden. I brought out the glass vials and the broad bean seeds. We scooped some soil from the garden, planted the broad bean seed in the glass vials and gave the little seeds a small drink of water.

Resources and materials
Broad bean seeds (I picked these up from Bunnings)
Small glass vials or jars (I got ours from Red Dot)
Fresh broad bean pod (which I steamed lightly beforehand)
A piece of whole fruit (I used a mandarin orange)

Book suggestions
A Seed Needs Sun (By Kate Riggs)
What Are Seeds? (By Molly Aloian)
The Tiny Seed (By Eric Carle)

We kept our little seedlings in a clear plastic container in a safe corner in our play area. The children diligently watered the seedlings daily using a teaspoon….