Plant beans and watch them grow

Many children at our school do not know where our fruit and vegetables come from and where/how they grow. The children are usually only familiar with pre-packaged fruit and vegetables from the supermarket.

The children should use planted bean seeds to see how they develop into plants that subsequently bear beans. They learn what a plant needs to grow (sun, water, nutrients) and are responsible for their own plant.

Our class mascots Frieda the frog and Friedrich the coati didn't know how to plant bean seeds. The children helped them with this and by trying it out together we realised that plants need water, sun and nutrients to grow. Then each child was allowed to start their own bean plant. They planted at least 3 seeds (which had already been placed in water overnight so that they would take root more quickly) in the soil. One seed was placed directly between the bean jar and the soil so that it was easier to see what was happening. The children then made a sign for their plant with their name and a bean diary in which they record the development of their plant every day. They have to water their plant every day. After a few weeks, the plants were so big that we also stuck a long wooden stick in the ground for the plants to climb up. After about 4 weeks, the children were able to discover flowers and shortly afterwards the beans. The duration of the project can be chosen individually. I decided to give the children the plants to take home as soon as the beans were on the plant.