Teaching about the life cycle of plants in kindergarten is one of the most fun science units of the year. Kids love learning about seeds, flowers, and how something so tiny can grow into something beautiful. It is the perfect time to bring a little nature into your classroom and spark students’ curiosity. With the right plant life cycle activities, you can easily connect science with reading, writing, and hands-on exploration while keeping your kindergarten students fully engaged.

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• The Tiny Seed Book Companion Activities
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• Fun Earth Day Planters Activity

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Plant Life Cycle Read Alouds

Explore the life cycle of a plant with informative read-alouds to build key background knowledge and vocabulary.

As you read, talk with students about:

• What seeds need to grow
• Why do some seeds not grow
• How plants change over time

Check out these plant life cycle read-alouds to kick off your learning.

• The Amazing Life Cycle Of Plants by Kay Barnham
• The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle – Grab the book companion from Simply Kinder + HERE to extend learning!
• A Tree Grows Up by Marfe Ferguson Delano
• Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn
• Seed to Plant by Kristin Baird Rattini
• A Bean’s Life Cycle by Mary R. Dunn

Planting Seeds

You can’t learn about the life cycle of a plant without getting your hands a little dirty. Planting seeds with students allows them to observe the life cycle in real time. Give each student a small cup, soil, and a seed. Bean seeds work especially well because they grow quickly.

Students can:

• Plant their seed
• Water it daily
• Watch it grow
• Record observations

Plant Life Cycle Sequencing

Sequencing helps students understand the order of growth. Focus on simple stages like seed, sprout, seedling, and plant for young learners. Simply Kinder’s Plant Life Cycle Activities will build sequencing skills and reinforce the concept that plants grow in a repeating cycle.

Students can complete sequencing activities such as:

• Plant life cycle spinner
• Cut & paste sequencing sheets
• Plant life cycle hat
• Reading a simple-to-understand plant life cycle book

Grab all of these activities from Simply Kinder + HERE!

Plant Life Cycle Dough Plates

Represent the stages of a plant’s life cycle using playdough and a paper plate. Divide a paper plate into 4 sections. Students will use the playdough to model each stage of the life cycle. Label each stage when finished to reinforce vocabulary.

Life Cycle Anchor Charts

Create a gallery of plant life cycle illustrations. This is a great partner or small group activity. Provide students with a large piece of chart paper that has been divided into four sections. Students will illustrate each stage of the life cycle on their chart paper. Groups can share what they know about each stage of the life cycle once the charts are finished. Hang these around the classroom for others to see.

Apple Flower Pops

Wrap up your learning with a special treat. Students can decorate their own “flower” apple to celebrate all they learned about the life cycle of a plant.

Follow these steps to create apple flowers:

• Slice an apple into circles.
• Push a popsicle stick into each circle as the stem.
• Students spread melted white chocolate on their apple.
• Decorate the apples with raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, grapes or other fruits of choice.
• Enjoy!

What are your favorite plant life cycle activities? Please tag us on Instagram here or share inside the Simply Kinder Teacher Facebook Group here.