At the start of the school year I asked my students to come up with some questions they had about gardening. Some common questions were ‘How do seeds grow?’, ‘What do seeds look like under the ground?’ and ‘What do seeds need?’ so I set about coming up with an activity to demonstrate. It is a simple and inexpensive activity that kids can undertake themselves and uses items that can be easily sourced.

For this activity you will need:

• Potting mix
• A trowel
• A clear tall container with an open top – we used a cut off soft drink bottle
• A large seed – we used a broad bean seed as they grow quickly and are easy to see. Pea, sunflower, pumpkin and nasturtium seeds would also work well.
• Garden labels
• Water

1. Using a trowel fill the container with potting mix.
2. Push the large down into the potting mix along the side of the container.
3. Lightly water the seed in. Do not use too much water as there aren’t any drainage holes in the container.
4. Write the date and the name of the seed on some garden labels and push them into the potting mix.
5. Place your container in a warm sunny spot. Check the seed each day to see how it is growing. You may also need to lightly water it occasionally if the potting mix dries out.

Encourage your children to make observations about the seed. Here are some questions you can ask them to encourage discovery and learning about seeds:

1. What do you notice about the seed today?
2. What did the seed need to grow?
3. How long did it take for roots to appear?
4. What do you think roots do?
5. How long did it take for the seed to sprout above the surface of the soil?

Happy gardening!