Home > Preschool Ideas > Saving Seeds – Plant Science

Saving Seeds – Plant Science

Over the last year, we have been working on our garden clearing the rubbish and reducing the head high weeds down to the soil. We’re ready now as it is approaching winter to build in our beds, sort of the paths and prepare for spring. But growing things can be expensive so when the theme for this weeks 2nd Grade blogging team came up as Harvest I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to Harvest some of our own seeds and learn to plant science at the same time.

Saving Seeds hands on plant science for autumn and fall

Learning Objectives

  • Can describe how seeds and bulbs grow into plants.
For your classroom or home check out these quick growing seeds for flowers and vegetables that are ideal to use for plant science investigations.

Materials Needed

A selection of vegetables and fruit with seeds in

Knife

Small Envelopes

Pen

Step by Step

Simple Spaghetti Squash recipe ideal for a warming comfort food lunch.

We received a fantastic vegetable box last week full of different varieties of squash – and the kids upon seeing them wanted to know how we could “grow” our own.

Luckily they are good gardeners and we have been growing our quick and easy plants with them since they were very little. But despite knowing that plants come from seeds – and that seeds are part of the plants they were a little unsure of how they come to grow unless they come from a packet.

Squash a seasonal autumn vegetable and one harvested at this time of the year and in our temperate climate in the south of the UK throughout the winter as long as it’s not a hard winter is perfect for seed saving and then to grow in the spring to eat and try more recipes.

We cut into a pumpkin as a well as spaghetti squash and looked at the flesh, the insides and explored the seeds.

Grow your own pumpkins from seed - spring activity to do with the kids

To make it safe I made the first incision and then the kids held the knife whilst we cut around the top of the pumpkin.

Whilst you are growing the seeds why not read a book about seeds with your toddlers and preschoolers.

They then used a scoop to remove the seeds.

Simple Spaghetti Squash recipe ideal for a warming comfort food lunch.

With the spaghetti squash, we cut the squash into chunks and then scooped out the seeds from the inside.

Simple Spaghetti Squash recipe ideal for a warming comfort food lunch.

With the seeds scooped out have a close look at them.

Saving Seeds hands on plant science for autumn and fall

Throughout the winter some of the seeds will start to germinate within the squash and have little shoots coming out of the top of the seeds. This is ideal to talk about how to plant the seeds so that where the shoot comes up from is towards the light.

Saving Seeds hands on plant science for autumn and fall

We then looked at saving the seeds – washing them in cold water to clean off the flesh of the squash and pumpkin.

Then removing those seeds that had already started to shoot.

Saving Seeds hands on plant science for autumn and fall

Placing them on a kitchen towel on a baking tray and leaving in a cool dry place for 3 – 4 days.

Once the seeds were dry collecting them off the paper towels and placing them in a small brown envelope (so that it is dark inside) and labeling with what they can from and when they were collected.

Seeds like this can last for up to 6 years if stored in a cool dry place.

Why not them plant the seeds – check out our top tips on planting and growing pumpkins for Halloween.

Other Harvest themed learning ideas for Early Elementary Children.

Hearty Vegetable Soup from Crafty Kids at Home

Saving Seeds – Plant Science from Rainy Day Mum

Scarecrow Glyph from Still Playing School

Mental Math adding 10’s and 100’s from Sugar Aunts

Free Printable Skip Counting Puzzles: Harvest Theme from Life Over C’s

Saving Seeds hands on plant science for autumn and fall
Author
Cerys Parker

Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, teacher, mum, and home educator from the UK. She loves getting creative, whether it is with simple and easy crafts and ideas, activities to make learning fun, or delicious recipes that you and your kids can cook together you'll find them all shared here on Rainy Day Mum.

3 Comments

  1. Getting hands on at this age is a great way to encourage kids to learn about science. I used to hate science as a kid and i’m sure its because it was never taught in a very interesting way. Good luck when you come to plant them in the spring.

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