Today, you’ll love this fun kids root viewer. Also, look at this post Easy Seeds and Gardening Unit Study for Kids (Middle – Upper Elementary) for more ideas.
While planting and watching a garden grow is tons of fun you kind of miss out on some of the fun and learning.
You don’t really get to see what is going on under the soil and that is where the real action takes place, at least in the beginning.
Giving kids a chance to really see what is happening underground really helps the idea of seed to plant take shape even more in their minds.
They do sell plastic root viewers online but really I enjoyed making our own for some hands-on fun and also because it only cost $3 to make it with tons of leftover seeds and soil for other garden activities or planting.
DIY Fun Kids Root Viewer
We will use ours over and over checking out how different plants look, how long it takes them to germinate, and how big they grow.
Next, look at some of these garden and seed books for kids as you make this kids root viewer.
Make this a complete unit study with fun hands-on ideas.
11 Gardening With Kids Books & Fun Resources
As a true bibliophile no unit study would be complete without a strong list of books to support a topic. Here is a great list for everyone in the family.
Learn the difference between a farrow and a barrow, and what distinguishes a weanling from a yearling. Country and city mice alike will delight in Julia Rothman’s charming illustrated guide to the curious parts and pieces of rural living. Dissecting everything from the shapes of squash varieties to how a barn is constructed and what makes up a beehive to crop rotation patterns, Rothman gives a richly entertaining tour of the quirky details of country life.
Packed with garden-based activities that promote science, math, reading, writing, imaginative play, and arts and crafts, The Garden Classroom offers a whole year of outdoor play and learning ideas—however big or small your garden.
Explore the secret realm beneath the dirt that brings the world of nature to life: Follow a young girl and her grandmother on a journey through the year planning, planting, and harvesting their garden—and learn about what's happening in the dirt to help make it all happen.Up in the garden, the world is full of green—leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt exists a busy world—earthworms dig, snakes hunt, skunks burrow—populated by all the creatures that make a garden their home
A refreshing source of ideas to help your children learn to grow their own patch of earth, Gardening Lab for Kids encourages children to get outside and enjoy nature. This fun and creative book features 52 plant-related activities set into weekly lessons, beginning with learning to read maps to find your heat zone, moving through seeds, soil, composting, and then creating garden art and appreciating your natural surroundings.
Whether inside or outside, decorative or edible, this book is full of gardening projects large and small. Easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions are accompanied by photographs that guide the aspiring gardening through planting all kinds of gardens.
MONTESSORI FOR TODDLERS: Our gardening tool set encourages kids to play outside & learn about plants, nature & sustainability. Perfect for the yard and sand box.
OUTDOOR LEARNING ACTIVITIES: Our Kids Garden Set is great for Occupational Therapy & Developing Fine Motor Skills. Suitable for Boys and girls.
A Gardening Research Workbook & Planning Guide for Teens, Kids and Families! Perfect for Homeschooling Science, Nature Study, Botany and Home Economics!
Designed for teens, but perfect for Ages 9+ (Younger students will need some extra help).
{Raised Garden Bed for Kids} We designed the children raised garden bed carefully, so that your children can feel the happiness of plant growth and the magic of natural life. Our raised garden bed deep enough to provide your plants and vegetables with ample room to breathe and grow healthy.
Flowers, trees, fruits—plants are all around us, but where do they come from? With simple language and bright illustrations, non-fiction master Gail Gibbons introduces young readers to the processes of pollination, seed formation, and germination. Important vocabulary is reinforced with accessible explanation and colorful, clear diagrams showing the parts of plants, the wide variety of seeds, and how they grow. The book includes instructions for a seed-growing project, and a page of interesting facts about plants, seeds, and flowers. A nonfiction classic, and a perfect companion for early science lessons and curious young gardeners.
Kids see plants, flowers, and trees around them every day. In this lively and educational reader, they'll learn how those plants grow. Kids will take this magical journey from seed pollination to plant growth, learning about what plants need to thrive and grow with the same careful text, brilliant photographs, and the fun approach National Geographic Readers are known for.
An easy and fun introduction to plant biology! With the able assistance of Thing 1 and Thing 2 - the Cat in the Hat explores the world of plants. Kids will learn about the various parts of plants, seeds, and flowers; basic photosynthesis and pollination; and seed dispersal.
Kids Spring Activity Root Viewer
To make your own diy root viewer you will need:
- a smooth cylinder vase-glass or plastic
- Potting soil
- Garden seeds- radishes, marigold, melon, and squash sprout quickly
- A handful of large rocks or pebbles
- cardstock/construction paper
Gather up all your supplies and begin by placing a layer of rocks about 3” deep in the bottom of your vase carefully.
You can use plastic but I like the transparency and durability of the glass one better, so we chose a tall cylinder vase at Dollar Tree.
For stones, we just used some that we had in our driveway.
Next, add the potting soil to fill your vase to about 1”-2” from the top of the rim. We were also able to get a nice sized bag of potting soil at Dollar Tree and there is plenty left in the bag for more projects.
Add 1-2 seeds to the soil 1” deep, press them in with your finger.
We spread ours out in 3 different spots around the vase in case some didn’t take.
Be sure to place your seeds right up against the glass so you can watch them sprout clearly, you will also be able to see some of the roots as they reach down.
Easy Kids Root Viewer
We choose radishes to plant in ours because they generally sprout pretty quick, this lets you get to the action much quicker but we will rotate our “crops” to observe other types of plants.
Water the seeds/soil well.
Now, in order for a seed to sprout it needs a moist but also dark environment, so we need to cover the vase as if the seed were in the ground.
Measure the height and diameter of your vase and cut a piece of thick dark cardstock or construction paper to fit, wrap it around and tape snugly in place, tape it to the other end of the paper, not the vase so that you can easily lift it off the vase and view the process.
We made ours 2 layers thick to give the tiny seeds as much protection as possible.
Place the cover on your vase and put your root viewer in a sunny window so that the soil can be warmed by the sun and provide the ideal conditions for your seeds to sprout.
As you put together your diy root viewer and watch the growth it’s a great time to talk about what a seed needs-water, oxygen, and proper temperature for optimal growth.
Kids DIY Root Viewer
Our viewer held a lot of water and we only needed to add just a bit of water directly to the top to keep the seeds moist.
Every day slide up the cover and check out the progress. Make notes and drawings in a journal to track your plant’s growth.
Ask your child some open-ended questions to encourage their curiosity.
- What is happening?
- How has the plant changed?
- What will happen next?
- After how many days did the seed begin to open?
- How long before the leaves sprouted?
Kids Root Viewer
Here are our sprouts on day 1, day 3, day 5, and day 15
The kids really enjoyed being able to see a normally hidden magical process.
We could see the seed as it broke open, roots as the grew down, and the stem and seeds as they reached upward for the sun.
The other thing seeds need to sprout is contained inside them- nutrients.
Once they sprout in the right conditions and roots take hold and the leaves sprout they are then able to use the process of Photosynthesis to make food.
Here are some terms to go over with your child while building and watching the process…
- Photosynthesis– The process where green plants and organisms use sunlight to create food from water and carbon dioxide.
- Germination– The development of seed after planting in soil.
- Sprout– Germination process where the seed puts out roots.
- Nutrients– Something in food that helps plants, animals, and people grow.
- Dormant– The state of rest for seeds before they sprout.
Go a little deeper by learning about the basic parts of a plant- roots, stem, leaves.
You’ll also love these other activities:
