fbpx

19 Creative Resources to Help You Plan A Plant Science Unit

Kids love planting and getting their hands dirty, so a plant science unit is always fun to teach. Here are some of the best plant activities, books, printables, and videos to make this topic fun and your planning easier. These are perfect for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students. 

We’ll be gearing up for Spring soon (yipee). That means planting, so it is the perfect opportunity for lots of hands on learning about seeds and plants. 

Children love planting. Every spring we plant seeds at the library and the children get so excited. And about one week later at least one thrilled five-year-old comes back, pot in hand, to proudly show us their seedlings. 

“Mrs. Sharon my seed GREW! Look you can see the leaves? 

Throughout the summer we are regaled with stories about the growing plants. A few years back one of our seeds grew into a ginormous sunflower. All the staff members had to ohh and ahhh over the pictures every time young T came in with a new progress report. 

I love this kind of response to activities. It always excites me to see the learning that occurs quite naturally. Without even trying our five-year-olds were practicing 

  • Observation 
  • Collecting data 
  • Recording data 

They were also identifying the major parts of plants and studying flower life cycles. All with very little effort! This is learning at its best. 

Why not take advantage of your student’s natural enthusiasm to enjoy a plant science unit?  To help you we collected our favorite activities, projects, and videos to engage your students and make your lessons fun.

19 Creative Resources to Help You Plan A Plant Science Unit

This activity goes well with:

19 CREATIVE RESOURCES TO HELP YOU TEACH A PLANT SCIENCE UNIT 

Let’s Start With 4 Helpful Books 

Stories about planting seeds are one of the fastest ways to grab the student’s interest. Here are some of my favorites. 

One Bean by Anne Rockwell

This book takes the reader through the process of planting a bean and looking after the seedling. We watch the seed grow into a plant and finally produce new beans to start the cycle again. The information is delivered as a story and is a lovely way to introduce the topic. 

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

This book starts as a strong wind blows flower seeds high into the air. The book follows the perilous journey of the seed as it flies to a new home, settles in the soil and eventually grows into the biggest plant ever. Accompanied by Eric Carle’s delightful collage illustrations, this is a wonderful read! 

How a Seed Grows by Helene J. Jordan

This book takes your student through a simple bean planting experiment to help them learn about seeds.  Children will love to read the book and then try the experiment.  

The Sunflower House by Eve Bunting

A young boy plants sunflower seeds in a big circle. He takes care of them as they grow into a beautiful sunflower house. The boy and his friends play in the house all summer. When Fall arrives they collect the seeds from the dying flowers to plant for the following year. 

Teaching tip 

As you read the story, pause to observe what happens to the seed during each stage of its life cycle. 

  • After reading the story, summarize the growing stages of the tiny seed. 
  • Comment that many plants begin and end in similar ways. 
  • Explain that a cycle is something that repeats over and over again. 

9 Videos About Plants 

Teacher Approved Video List all about Plants. Everything from the life cycle of plants to how to plant them! These videos about plants are perfect for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students.

Check out these teacher approved videos about plants. There’s everything from the life cycle of plants, to, to how to plant them!  

1 fabulous activity – planting Seeds and keeping journalsPlanting Plants in Kindergarten! Use this fun, interactive journal to walk you through the process and learn about the plant life cycle from Simply Kinder. Perfect or preschool, kindergarten, and first grade classrooms. Available on Teachers Pay Teachers from Simply Kinder. 

Planting seeds in kindergarten is always such fun, but it can be utter chaos. It’s important to have clear directions and backup activities so that students can take turns to get seeds, soil, or water. You’ll love our Planting Plants Science Journal. Not only does it walk you through the process of planting seeds with your class, but it has all kinds of printables to teach your kiddos about the plant life cycle.    Click here to see all of the activities included in our Planting Plants Science Journals. 

1 super fun plant activity kids will love 

Plants Activities for kids

This fun plant lesson will get your kids talking about the parts of a plant. As an added bonus it will give them the chance to taste some healthy vegetables! 

2 Songs to Sing 

The Parts of a flower 

The Needs of a plant 

2 Flower Life Cycle Activities (Free Printables) 

19 Creative Resources to Help You Plan A Plant Science Unit

Plant Life Cycle Wheel 

This life cycle wheel is perfect for teaching students the plant life cycle. The wheel covers seed, germination, seedling, flowers, and seed heads. The fact that the wheel turns in a never-ending circle is a great way to help kids visualize the life cycle.  

Templates are in color or black and white to give you extra flexibility in printing. Children can make their own wheels, or you can make one to show the class.  

Directions:  

  1. Print templates onto cardstock.
  2. Color (if needed) and cut out both circles.  
  3. Cut out the window section of the top circle.  
  4. Lay the top circle on top of the bottom circle. 
  5. Push a brass fastener through the middle, so you can turn the bottom circle and see the different stages in the window. 

Plant Life Cycle Activity Sheet 

This sheet invites students to cut out the life cycle pictures and glue them in their correct order.  It is a great way to review the life cycle. 

Your Turn 

What is your favorite plant science unit activity?  Do you plant seeds with your students?  What kinds?  Do you do any experiments?  Let us a comment, so we can all learn together!   

Want to remember this post for later? Pin the image below!

SaveSave

SaveSave

At Simply Kinder we work together to bring you ready-to-use resources to partner with great teaching for any curriculum, a Facebook community where teachers talk all things Kindergarten, and low-prep learning ideas that your students will love. Be sure to stay up to date with all things kindergarten on InstagramFacebookPinterest, and through email. Simply Kinder: where teaching Kinder is definitely better together!

With Unmatched Printables & Engaging Classroom Ideas, Simply Kinder is your TRUSTED TEAMMATE.

GET OUR EMAILS

Get our emails loaded with free resources, teaching ideas, and so much more! 

WHAT'S NEW?

$5.00
$5.50

You might also like...

HEre's your freebie!

Here's a coupon code for your next purchase!

CODE: 123456

You might also like:

1