“The Tiny Seed” by Eric Carle and What Direction Does a Seed Grow Project

Weekly Trip to the Library

“The Tiny Seed” By Eric Carle is the perfect book to read in the Spring. The short board book follows the life of a seed. This mini-book includes a piece of detachable seed-embedded paper housed on the inside front cover. Readers can plant the entire piece of paper and watch as their very own tiny seeds grow into beautiful wildflowers.

After reading “The Tiny Seed” by Eric Carle to a toddler or preschooler take a stroll through the neighborhood and look for sprouting plants.

If you borrow the book from the library you can plant your own seed and watch it grow. Here’s what to do to watch a seed grow:

You Will Need:

Beans
Two Wide-Mouth Jars
Paper Towels

What to Do:

1. Soak the beans overnight in water.
2. Place the blotting paper snugly around the inside of each jar.
3. Stuff crumpled paper towel in the middle of the jars, then fill them with water and wait until the paper towel absorbs as much of the water as it can.
4. Pour off the excess water.
5. Push a few of the beans in different positions (horizontal, diagonal, vertical) between the blotting paper and the glass in each jar. Keep them spaced apart and near the top of the jars.
6. Have the children draw diagrams of the jars and the seeds and draw their predictions of how they think they will grow.
7. Keep the jars out of direct sunlight and watch the seeds grow. Water the paper towels quite regularly so the seeds will keep moist.
8. Once the seedlings have reached about an inch over the jars (about a week), lay one of the jars on its side.
9. Have the kids draw diagrams of the jars and the seeds and draw their predictions of how they think they will grow now.
10. In a few days have the children draw what happens. The stems of the seedlings should have bent so they could continue to grow upwards. Who predicted correctly? Why did this happen? What may be some reasons?

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