Early Spring Growing

Despite the mini snow storm this week, I am so ready for spring and to start digging my hands into the dirt of our quarter acre lot. The birds are returning from their vacations down south and the first shoots of spring flowers are appearing in south facing gardens.

This transitional period of early spring is such a phenomenal time to observe the natural world and to teach kids about how things grow. It may just be ‘first spring’ where we live but we are taking full advantage of it by observing the changes happening outside and by building on that learning indoors.

This week, we started three simple growing projects that went really well with G who is 3 years old. We started with the classic window sprouts activity, then sprouted a lilac branch and continued on to care for seedlings we started for our garden.

All you need for window sprouts are some seeds, paper towels (or thin cloth towels), and a plastic bag. Sunflower, corn, pea, and bean seeds work great for this experiment because of their size. Once you’ve gathered your materials dampen the paper towels, place a few seeds on it, put the towel in one of your plastic bags and go about your day — checking back to look for changes whenever you think of it.

Our resident 3 year old was able to do most of the work for this experiment, using the little squirt bottle he uses to water our house plants to dampen the cloth. It was a little tricky for him to get the seeds to stay in the paper while placing them into the baggy so I lent a hand. Then we taped the bags to a window that G can easily access so he’ll be able to observe the seeds whenever he wants.

This is also the window G uses to wave to the garbage truck every week — they sometimes wave back :)

You can expand the learning by varying the growing conditions. Put some of the seeds in a south facing window and others in an area with no sun at all; put some in dirt; put some in the refrigerator, etc. Observe the differences in how — and if — the seeds grow.

Once interest in observing the plants on the window dies down or your plants get too big for the bag you can plant those babies in dirt and continue the activity into summer. Last year, we planted most of the seedlings we sprouted this way in our yard and ended up with a decent harvest of snap peas for G and some corn for the squirrels to devour.

Don’t have any seeds? No problem. Activity number two is another great conversation starter for teaching kids about plant growth. With this one you trim a small branch from a deciduous tree/bush and bring it inside to watch it grow. The warmth of your house and access to water will have the branch sprouting leaves long before the branches outside.

Watch for the little buds to start forming on the branches outdoors and take a small trimming inside. Cut the branch at an angle and place the bottom of the branch in water and watch over the next few days as green leaves unravel from the buds and slowly grow larger.

Bottom was what our branch looked like when we brought it in, up top is after a few days in the warm house.

Again, you can explore what elements the branch needs to grow — why does it grow when you bring it inside while it will be several more weeks before the buds are breaking open outdoors? Try comparing the way leaves emerge with other types of ‘birth’ like how an egg hatches or a butterfly emerges from a cocoon.

These activities can also be expanded by just following where the conversation leads. When we were bringing in our lilac branch, G asked me if the buds were little berries and could we eat them. It was a great transition into discussing edible and inedible plants — a discussion we have almost daily in the summer months (lilac flowers are edible, by the way).

Activity three, starting seedlings for a garden bed or container, continues to teach about plant growth with the added benefit of giving G a sense of responsibility and accomplishment. As you learn with your kids you get a sense of what they can do independently. Set them up for success by limiting the activity to their ability level. My three year-old enjoys spooning dirt into containers, sprinkling the seeds onto the dirt and pressing them into the soil. Sometimes he gets a bit excessive with pressure but it’s nothing that can’t be corrected later.

With my kiddo I’ve learned I can’t have all our materials in front of us at once — one pot, one type of seeds and something to catch excess dirt makes this activity fun for us both. I also wouldn’t expect to get all our seeds planted with my little one in tow, we end when his interest wanes since I know I can come back to the project later.

Once our seeds are planted, each morning we check and water the pots, observing the seedlings as they grow. It’s exciting for both of us to go from one morning seeing nothing but dirt, to the next day seeing the smallest curve of a green stem pushing against the dirt and then seeing those first true leaves take shape. I love sharing the joy of planting something, watching it come to life and then keeping it alive with our kid.

That little sprayer bottle is worth it’s weight for keeping G engaged ❤

We currently have kale, spinach, cabbage, peas, lettuce and several herb seedlings to care for. Later in the spring, G will help plant the seedlings out and help us water the vegetable garden in the mornings. We were just celebrating today how excited we are for spring and all the good food we are going to grow in the backyard. He and his dad have also decided he gets his own garden bed this year to grow whatever he wants, which is lavender, something I can’t pronounce and wheat, apparently.

If you’ve never grown anything and have little ones running around I would suggest wheatgrass (aka cat grass) as a first attempt because it is so easy to grow and grows really fast. You can also eat it — I bet you know of a smoothie place that has it on the menu.

Cat grass for lunch? G trimmed a bit to include on his plate a few weeks back.

My sister got us a little grow kit for my birthday which came with this super cute pot — but really anything can work for this. Bonus points if you repurpose something from your recycling bin. Most herbs are also pretty hardy and thrive on neglect plus you can trim them to add to your cooking which is really rewarding — mint, basil, and parsley are a few we’ve had success with.

As an end note, I feel like I just have to say — I’m at home with my two little ones right now so teaching them is how I spend my day. Do what you can and leave the rest.

You really don’t have to do anything to see and feel the changes that come with spring. A walk in a familiar area will yield many opportunities for you and your little ones to observe your surroundings. Get some fresh air, look up and down. Be nosey about what folks are growing in their yards or on their porches. Soak up some of that good sunshine and notice the sight, sounds and energy of growth as the Earth reawakens this Spring.