8 Great Resources for Growing Plants in the Classroom This Winter

Growing your own plants in the classroom is not only a great way to bring some green into the winter months, but it also provides some pivotal moments to teach students the time, patience and care it takes to rear a few single seed into a full-grown garden.

This blog/website walks you through a number of different plants to grow, and how to grow them. You can grow a runner bean, carrot top, and even an avocado stone. The stone will sprout and produce a root system, which you can later transfer into a pot until it’s spring time. These plants are simple and small enough to fit perfectly into the classroom environment.

If you’d like to plant your own edible garden with your students, the best time to start is in late winter/early spring. Click here to see a great chart showing when to start growing certain plants and vegetables, and when to move them outdoors.

Here are a few creative ideas for ways to keeping smaller–medium-sized your plants until they’re ready to be planted in the spring. You can try empty egg shells, soda bottles, and CD cases.

As your plants grow, take advantage of the opportunity by introducing some innovative and fun projects. Here’s a time lapse video of some plants growing in one teacher’s classroom that you can do in your own:

This video shows an interesting science experiment about how plants grow that is very easy to replicate in your own classroom:

And plants aren’t the only thing you can grow this winter! Why not try your hand at raising caterpillars in the classroom? Students will delight at watching the little bugs way of life, from cutesy-crawly to cocoon to beautiful butterfly, and they can keep a record journal of the life cycle as the caterpillars progress. In the spring, you can celebrate the butterfly’s hatching with a farewell party, and set them free on a warm, sunny afternoon.

This video from Sophie Gulliver walks you through everything you’ll find in a classroom caterpillar kit, or everything you’ll need to gather for yourself.

Keep in mind, this is only one example of how to raise caterpillars in the classroom. There are many different ways to carry out the project, some that also include raising a plant for the caterpillars to feed on.

Compiled by Samantha DiMauro, Education World Contributor