Our school has a “community room” where people will leave random items in case any class wants to use them.
One of the items I picked up was a bag of dried beans and corn. It looked like it was once in a discovery bin around Thanksgiving.
I took them home and sorted out all the beans that were larger and not broken and tossed the rest.
My big plan was to eventually have the kids plant them and I hoped they would grow. Back in my elementary days I remember doing this with paper towels, and I wanted to bring that magic to our outdoor clsssroom time. Because I have so many kids (60), I ended up putting each towel and beans in separate plastic bags. It was a huge waste, but it made it easier to keep track of each class.
Instructions:
I had each kid pick out two beans (in case one didn’t sprout). Then I showed them how to take a couple paper towels, dip them in the bowl of water and ring it out. Then they placed the seeds and wrapped them in the damp towel and put it in a bag.
The next week we met up, the kids inspected how the beans were starting to sprout. I wasn’t sure if the plant started would last to week two but they did! They were huge too. I had wanted to plant them after 5-7 days, but that week it was pouring rain so I postponed planting process. Soon it was sunny again and we put them in the dirt. I hope they continue to grow this week while everyone is away on spring break!
Automatic watering would be great for long times away like this.