Since they were white it also allowed us to write important details and notes right on the pot. Students should water regularly (the same amount of water for each) and notate changes in their growth each week. It will take approximate 30 days for the plants to full mature. If you look at our results, you can see the pot that was in full shade was the tallest. This is likely because the plant was trying to reach any light it could find. The pot that was in full sun may not have been the tallest but it did have the most leafy growth.
Hands-On Plants and Soil Activities for Kids
May 30, 2026
Not every classroom has access to garden beds, grow lights or other things needed to teach students about plants and soil. We have developed several investigations to help students understand how plants grow and survive while using minimal materials.
Sunlight, Water & Plant Space Investigation
Have students plant a radish seed in three different pots. Radish seeds work well because they are quick to spout and harvest. One pot will receive no shade (full sun), another pot will have part shade (sunlight for a few hours a day), and the final pot will be in full shade (no sunlight). We used this indoor potting soil* for our investigation. If you plan to bring these in the classroom you might want to consider getting indoor soil as soil made for outdoor use often attracts tiny black bugs which multiply quickly. We had zero bug issues with this soil. We also used these pots* and found they were the perfect size for this investigation.
To investigate how plants need water, you will setup the investigation the same way: 3 pots each with a radish seed planted in them. We used these brand of radish seed* for all the investigations because we have always had good luck with germination rates from this brand. This time the sunlight must remain the same for all three pots. However, one pot will get a typical watering amount each day. One pot will get significantly more water than the others . Finally the last pot will get no water. Students will quickly see that with no water the seed will not even germinate and with too much water it can lead to root rot and an unhealthy plant.
Finally, if you want to show students to see the importance of plant space setup your investigation with the same 3 pots. The sunlight and water must remain the same, but this time the number of seeds we plant will differ. The first pot will only have 1 seed, the second pot will have 5 seeds and the final pot will have 10 seeds. Students will quickly see that when seedlings have to fight for space they will not grow as much as if they would with adequate space.
Plant Life Cycle Investigation
For this investigation we used lima bean seeds* from the same brand as the radish seeds. The key to this investigation is to soak the lima beans in water overnight. Then place the seed in a wet paper towel and place in a zip top bag that is taped to a sunny window. Students should check on it daily or every other day to ensure the paper towel stays wet.
Soil Investigation
When teaching students about soil types it would be best to use the actual resources: sand, silt and clay. While it's not impossible to get a hold of those materials, it can be challenging. You can try to find soil kits online, but they are difficult to find and usually pricey. You may be able to find these items at your local cooperative extension office or you can get these items straight from the source: sand from playgrounds, silt from riverbeds and clay in some garden beds. However since none of those options are very convinent we have designed a lesson that uses regular house hold items instead to simulate those three items.
Before you will begin you will need to make the simulated clay. We highly recommend an adult does this part. You will use the cornstarch and water to make oobleck which is a non-Newtonian fluid. When you press or squeeze it it will feel like a solid. If you let it sit, it will act like a liquid. You will need to slowly add water and mix until it is oobleck. You can expect to roughly had 2 parts cornstarch to 1 part liquid, but mix it in slowly so you don't add too much. It will be a little challening to mix, but don't give up. WARNING: It can get messy when mixing.
Once your oobleck is made, you or your students will fill three cups with the flour (silt), sugar (sand) and oobleck (clay). You may want to provide a cup of cornstarch without water as well so they can see what it was like prior to mixing with water. They will touch all three materials, taking note of the texture and particle size .
Next they will add water to each substance and watch how the water settles through the substance. Students should notice that in the sand (sugar) the water flows through to the bottom almost immediately! This is what happens in real sand - the water and nutrients flow through quickly. With silt (flour) the water does travel through but much slower than the sand (sugar). Finally with the clay (oobleck) the water stays at the top taking a very long time to travel through the substance.
We hope you have found these investigations helpful and inspiring! If you're looking for more science lessons and activities be sure to explore the rest of our blog!
Looking for ready-to-use lessons on this topic? These activities are part of our 3rd Grade Plants and Soil Lesson Plans, which include detailed lesson plans, student recording sheets, assessments, and many other activities to help students understand plants and soil.
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