Here at Fun Science we are starting to feel very Christmassy! Get in the festive mood with us by growing your own mini-Christmas tree in this easy science experiment! It is a great Christmas activity whilst helping children to learn about what plants need to grow!

You Will Need:

• A sponge
• A tray
• Spray bottle/watering can
• Grass / cress seeds or similar
• Scissors

  

Method:

• Cut the sponge into a Christmas tree shape (adult may need to help)
• Soak the sponge in water.
• Place the sponge on the tray and sprinkle the seeds over the top.
• Spray / water the seeds to ensure they are damp.
• Put some water in the tray to keep the sponge damp.
• Put your ‘Mini-Christmas tree’ somewhere well lit indoors.
• Watch the plant grow over time! You could even trim the grass/cress if it gets too long!

Now Try:

• Why not try making a few ‘Christmas trees’ and leaving them in different places to see how they grow? You could leave one in a dark place, one in a cold place, one in a damp place – anywhere you can think of! Did they grow differently or even grow at all?
• What about trying something different to a sponge? Cotton wool? Kitchen towel?
• Try some different seeds, or even mix some seeds together to see what happens! Do some grow quicker than others?

The Science Bit:

• The main things that plants need to grow are water and sunlight. Smaller plants such as cress and grass grow easily so they can thrive without soil! Soil is great because it provided plants with extra nutrients and food that they need, but some plants can survive without it!
• Planting them in different places is a great way to show children that plants need certain conditions to grow, such as sunlight! They turn the sunlight into food through photosynthesis, so they need lots of sun! Being somewhere cold will slow the plant down, but if they are too hot they might dry out and die! So it is important to be in the right temperature too! Just like us, plants need water to drink too! So that is why we need to water them regularly.

Thanks to Gift of Curiosity for this festive experiment!