Here are some seed activities you can add to your Science Center during a Plants and Seeds theme unit for your preschool and pre-k children to explore!

Make a Seed Box for Your Science Center

To make a seed box for the Science Center, I hot glued a different type of seed to the side of each compartment of a divided craft box (these can be found in most craft stores, like Hobby Lobby, or fabric shops). Place at least two seeds of each type in the compartments.

Children can take the seeds out to look at them closer with magnifying glasses. When they are done, they know exactly where to return them; they just match the seeds to the one hot glued to that compartment. Keep tweezers nearby because children like to use them to pick up the seeds. The reason for placing two of each type in the compartments is because the seeds sometimes are lost; this way they still have one. It’s also a good idea to keep extra seeds handy in a cabinet.

Seed Sorting

To set up this science center, place a variety of about 4 seeds in a bowl (I used a wooden bowl, pictured below). Then I placed 4 clear plastic cups for sorting along with tweezers. Seed packets were purchased for this activity.

Children sorted seeds by moving the four types of seeds from the bowl to the four separate cups using the tweezers (great fine motor practice also).

For younger children, you may want to use 2-3 types of seeds to sort.

Seed Sorting in Small Group

This is another seed sorting activity we have done before. Lines were drawn on construction paper to make divided sections. Children were given a cup of 4 types of seeds, and they sorted and glued them onto the paper. This is a good activity to save for portfolios.

To save money (since multiple children were saving this project), we used dried beans, peas, and corn from the grocery store for the seeds. We also had some pumpkin seeds leftover from a pumpkin back in the Fall.

Watching Seed Growth

Children plant the seeds themselves and water them as needed. We watch the growth of the plants, which encourages lots of observation and discussion skills. We planted four different types of seeds: bean, corn, tomato, and watermelon. Each of these grew really well. By planting four different types, children were able to observe which seeds germinate for shorter or longer periods of time. The bean and corn were the fastest to sprout, while the tomato came in third, and the watermelon took the longest to sprout.

You can use disposable punch cups and have each child plant their seed in the cup as shown in the above photo.

Or, use a seed starter (photo below) and have each child plant a seed in one of the peat cells.

Seed Book

Make a seed book for your Science Center during a Plant & Seed theme. Read more about the wow to Make a Seed Book here!