How to Grow Lima Bean Sprouts for Preschoolers

Beans sprout quickly, usually sending out their first tender growth within two or three days. Lima beans, in particular, have a large size and a shape that makes them simple for preschoolers to handle and manipulate. Use the beans to illustrate how seeds grow into plants by creating a hands-on activity that's suitable for young children to perform with only minimal supervision. Young children are often excited to see a seed they planted themselves grow into a real plant.

Paper towels

Lima bean seeds

Paper plates

Gallon zip-top bags

Plastic cups

Potting soil

Fold a paper towel in half. Moisten the towel thoroughly with water and set it on a paper plate.

Place a plate and two or three beans in front of each child. Instruct the children to place the beans on top the paper towel.

Help the children fold their paper towels in half so the beans are sandwiched between the moistened paper towel. Slide the plates and beans into a gallon-size zip-top baggie.

Set the plates in a warm area, such as near a sunny window or a heat vent. Explain to the preschoolers that beans, like most seeds, require water and warmth to sprout. The paper towel provides the water while the sunny window provides warmth.

Check the beans daily. Give the preschoolers crayons and paper to draw and document the changes in their seeds. Show the children how the beans first begin to swell and become larger. Point out when the beans begin to break open as the sprout pushes out, and later have them draw the bean as the sprout emerges.

Fill plastic cups with moist potting soil. Help the children make a 1-inch deep hole in the center of the soil with a pencil.

Give each child their plate and bean sprout. Plant the bean so that the initial sprout that emerges, which is the taproot, points down into the soil.

Place the cups in a sunny, warm window. Set aside daily time for the preschoolers to water their sprouts and document the changes taking place with the lima bean plant as it begins growing taller and developing leaves.

Use a seed packet of lima beans that is meant for planting. Dried beans from the grocery store may sprout slowly or not at all.

Create a sequencing activity with the lima beans. After the children sprout their own seeds, give them three pictures of lima beans in different stages of growth and instruct the preschoolers to arrange the cards in the correct sequence.

Supervise preschoolers at all times during the experiment, as the beans may pose a choking hazard.