Plastic Cup Gardening

Grace was one and Jack, not quite three, when we first did this - every age enjoys dirt and watching things grow!

When my Andy was in first grade, I did an advanced reading program with some kids in his class. We read Frog and Toad’s “The Garden” from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel. Toad tries everything to get his seeds to grow, but it was taking too long. One night he even takes candles out to the garden to read to his seeds! Eventually, of course, they sprouted. I had those first graders believing that reading to seeds mattered, and to keep track of which story worked the best to make them grow. We planted wheat grass in cups to take home for the testing, and they were to report on any story magic the next week.

Wheat grass will sprout in 1-2 days in a sunny windowsill. I drew faces on Jack and Grace’s cups with Posca paint markers (great for painting rocks too) so the grass would eventually look like hair. I cut out small ears on each side and bent them forward and Jack added googly eyes. The kids filled the cups with potting soil and planted the seeds. It only took two days to see a bit of green! We also read “The Garden,” and I just did again when writing this. Frog and Toad are the best - “Cookies” is another favorite chapter.