Ready for a fun and easy science experiment at home for kids? Teaching them how to grow lentils in cotton is a fab opportunity to learn about nature, seed germination and plants. You’ll start with a few dry lentils and will have a nice plant in a few days. Growing lentils in cotton is that easy!
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Lentils in a jar: materials
How to grow lentils in cotton in 4 steps
- Separate bits of cotton and put them at the bottom of the glass vase.
- Put a little bit of water to make the cotton wet.
- Place a few lentils on top of the cotton, pressing so they are stuck into it.
- Leave the vase somewhere with natural light. The experiment is ready!
As you can see from our photos, my toddler enjoyed putting tons of cotton and dozens of lentils. Never mind! It ended up equally well and it’s her own personal style.
Over the next few days, we watered the cotton daily. Enough to keep the cotton wet without flooding it. We were very excited when the lentils started grow – every day they got bigger! It was really quick and fun to see.
When the lentil plant was too big for the jar, we carefully removed the cotton around the roots and seeds and transferred them to a pot with soil.
What we learned
Learning how to grow lentils in cotton was good to talk and learn about…
- How does a seed become a plant? Germination and growing process
- Why are light, temperature and water important?
- Parts of a plant (see the image)
- Why does the plant incline towards the light source and what happens if we move the jar around?
Experiment alternatives
You can also try this experiment with dry beans or chickpeas. The Imagination Tree shared their experiment with beans and it looks so cool! If you’ve already done this science project or your kids are older, here are some other ideas:
- Compare the growth and speed of lentils versus chickpeas or beans.
- Compare the growth of the seeds in light or in darkness.
- Keep a nature journal. Write down the day of germination, first leaf…
- Draw the progress each day to keep track of their growth.
- Measure the length of the lentils as they evolve and keep track on a graph.
Seeds and Plants-related printable materials
During the process of seeing how lentils grow in cotton, you can use the following resources:
Seed Growth Worksheet (by Twinkl)
Germinating seeds: record the growth of your seeds (by The Resourceful Mama)
Lima Bean Observation Journal & Sprout House (by Teachers Pay Teachers)
Plant Life Cycle Sequencing Cards (by File Folder Fun) – Click “Download Game” at the top
How Do Seeds Grow Activity Sheet (by KidZone)
All About Plants Activity Packet (by Teachers Pay Teachers)
Books about Seeds & Plant Life Cycle
We love books! At home, we read them over and over again. Even better if they teach important lessons. They end up being a learning source source for months and years.
The Tiny Seed, by Eric Carle (UK link / US link)
The Amazing Plant Life Cycle Story, by Kay Barnham (UK link / US link)
A Seed in Need: A first look at the plant cycle, by Sam Godwin (UK link / US link)
Trees (My First Discoveries), by Christian Broutin (UK link / US link)
Books for science-maniacs!
If your kid loved this experiment, I have no doubt they will love other science projects too! These two books are amazing, with tons of fun (and easy) experiments to do at home. Both actually have seeds growth experiments too!
Awesome Science Experiments for Kids, by Crystal Chatterton (UK link / US link)
The Everything Kids’ Science Experiments Book, by Tom Robinson (UK link / US link)
Does cotton have to be applied on top of the lentils as well or only on the bottom of the jar?
Hi! It’s better not to put cotton on top. Just put it at the bottom of the jar and then the lentils on top and that will work!
The image with cotton on top is just because my daughter wanted to experiment and play with it ?