Seed Starting with Kids – The Easy Way

These 5 simple steps will get your kids seed starting the easy and frugal way. Bond with your kids while you get your garden started before the first frost date.

After a long winter here in the upper Midwest, I think it’s safe to say that we’re all ready for a little springtime. In our area, last frost date isn’t usually until May, so starting seeds indoors gives a great head-start to a successful garden. Each year we try to incorporate our kids more into our little suburban homesteading adventure, and seed starting is a great way to do this. This year, my kids ages 9 down to 3 (and for a bit the 1 year old) were my helpers.

Here are five easy steps to getting your garden off to a great start:

1. Prep your pots.
2. Gather all supplies.
3. Get the soil ready and fill your pots.
4. Plant seeds at proper depth.
5. Place seeds in a sunny, warm spot and wait.

Let’s get started!

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1. Very few supplies are needed for seed starting, but some prep work is involved. If you have pots and trays that you’re reusing from a previous year, it’s important thoroughly to scrub and then soak them in a diluted bleach solution. Bacteria and microorganisms that could be harmful to your new seedlings can remain on your pots, so cleaning them gives your seeds the best chance at success.

After washing the pots and rinsing off the soap, my daughter soaked them in a 1:9 bleach to water solution for 10 minutes. Then she rinsed them and let them air dry. (Wearing gloves and proper ventilation are important when using bleach!)

2. Gathering your supplies is easy because there aren’t many to gather! A large container to hold the soil is helpful (bonus if it’s big enough for kids to fill pots over the top to minimize spilling). A few spoons, some filtered water, your pots, the soil, seeds, and something to label each pot (popcicle sticks are great and cheap) are essentials. A few extras that we’ve found to be helpful include a heat mat designed for seed starts, a humidity dome, and a grow light. I have seen these extras bring seeds to germination in just a few days!

When it comes to pots, there are a myriad of options available. I like using the 3.5″ pots and planting 2-4 seeds per pot (depending on plant type), and then potting up as they grow. These sit in a large 10″x20″ tray, and this makes for easy bottom-up watering from kids (and less chance of mold on the soil surface). Some people like the biodegradable peat pots, but I haven’t personally had much success, only mold. Many sets are inexpensive and can be reused year after year if taken care of properly.

3. Prepping your soil is when the real fun begins! We used our large popcorn bowl and filled it 3/4 full with soil. I used a basic potting mix I found at Walmart, but you can get any kind of potting mix that you may find appealing. Some soil is targeted specifically for seed starting, but I have had success with even just basic potting soil. My kids then mixed filtered water in with the soil until it was most but not mud.

Then we filled the individual seed pots almost full with the damp soil. Many little hands make light work (and quite a bit of a mess!).

4. Planting seeds is where my patience starts getting tested, but it’s possible for this to be a painless experience with a few tricks. First, we made a list of the plants we wanted to grow and where we sourced the seeds. (This can also be part of a science experiment – #homeschooling for the win!)

Then we labeled each type of seed with a number and corresponding labeled popcicle stick.

Next, we read the seed packets to determine the seed planting depth for each seed.

Hot Tip! In order to help my kids know how deep each seed needed to be planted, I measured that depth on another popcicle stick and they used it as a guide. Simply push the stick in to the measured line, and the proper depth is achieved. It was great because after measuring, a perfect indentation was left to drop in the seed! Gently cover the seed with soil, label your pot, and set aside.

Also, depending on the general size of the plant, we put between 2-4 seeds in each pot. Zucchini and pumpkins tend to get big fast, so we only put 2 seeds in each pot, while the tomatoes take a bit longer and therefore we planted 4 seeds in each pot. Once they get larger, we will transplant them into larger containers.

A note about seed choices: we chose seeds that would produce plants that grow well in our area and the space we have in our garden. I saved heirloom seeds from previous years and we used those (which contributed to our experiment of seeing which ones would actually germinate). Many seeds were from the Dollar Tree, where we found them 4 packets for $1, and they are non-GMO. This doesn’t have to be an expensive venture!

5. Time to grow in the virtue of patience! Place your seeds in a warm, sunny spot and wait with a happy heart.

Tips for seed starting with kids

1. Covering your work surface with a plastic table cloth helps immensely with clean up!
2. Using potting soil and NOT using dirt from your yard helps to minimize harmful microorganisms that could damage or kill your starts.
3. If you use popcicle sticks for labeling, writing the plant name high up on the end of the stick (preferably with a pen, but a permanent marker will work) will keep the ink from running if the stick absorbs moisture from the soil.
4. Using a heat mat can help speed up the germination process. Remove the heat mat once your seedling have emerged.
5. Covering the seeds with a humidity dome can also help maintain a consistent temperature and moisture environment. These are inexpensive, but in a pinch, using plastic wrap can do the trick. Also remove this once your seedlings have emerged.
6. While the sun is obviously excellent for plants, your seedling can get “leggy” and fail to thrive if they’re constantly reaching for the far away sun. Using a grow light close to the top leaves can eliminate this problem and be adjusted as your plants grow taller.
7. If you see mold starting to form on the surface of your soil, sprinkling it with some cinnamon can stop the mold growth and will not damage your seedlings.

What happens after your kids start the seeds?

While you’re waiting for your seedlings to emerge, your kids can watch, sing to their seeds, practice reading a story, play a song on the violin for them, and dream about their future garden. One of my daughters loves to draw next to her seeds. Every morning our kids ran down to check on the seeds. On the morning of day 5 after planting, our first tiny seedling was out to greet us! (It was a zucchini.)

Just a few days after we saw our first successful sprout, many more came up. Not all of the seeds we planted germinated, but almost all of them did. Each day the kids spend time admiring their handiwork and dreaming about spring – like most of us are at this bleak time of year.

Seed starting is easy, inexpensive, fun, and frugal.

My kids had such a blast starting our seedlings for this summer’s garden. Even though a bit of a mess was created, it was an opportunity to learn about seeds and germination, get our hands dirty when it was frozen outside, and have fun together on a March afternoon. Our next endeavor is planning what herbs we are going to grow…

Have you tried seed starting with your kids? What do you plan to grow this summer? Leave a comment below!