{ Earth Day kids activities } The amazing seed

Part of our series of Earth Month activities for kids. Join us as we celebrate and learn about our earth all month long! Looking for Earth Day books? See our picks here.

Two days ago my 7-year-old and I planted 45 little cells of seeds. Tomatoes, peppers, herbs, lettuce… Now every morning we wake up and run over to see any signs of green pushing up from the soil. I love this spring ritual. This year we’re adding learning about the amazing ways seeds have evolved to spread themselves.

Read: A Seed Is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston + Sylvia Long. A fantastic book that combines truly interesting facts about seeds with large, detailed, visually appealing illustrations (your child will want to look at them again and again). The information is presented in a way that makes you want to read on: “A seed is sleepy…” Why? you wonder. Read on to learn about seeds that have germinated after a thousand years!

Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants by Jane Goodall. For grown-ups, just released a few days ago, in time for Jane Goodall to celebrate her 80th birthday. I’m looking forward to reading this book.

Explore:

Plant some seeds! In your garden, on your back porch, on your windowsill. Now’s the time to plant peas and lettuce outdoors and to start tomatoes, eggplant, and other warm-weather crops like peppers indoors.

Look for unused items around your house that you can turn into flower pots or planters. I repurposed an old under-the-bed storage bin that had become warped so that the lid no longer fit into an arugula bed — with holes drilled into the bottom it was perfect for shallow-rooted lettuce plants on our back terrace.

Read this great interview with Jane Goodall about her love of seeds and plants.

Take a look at these beautiful photos of seeds.