Materials:

-Dry seeds of some variety (the video uses black beans)
-a few sheets of paper towel
-either a see-through glass or plastic container or a plastic bag
-water

Here is a cool time-lapse video you can check out to watch beans grow.


Step-by-Step Activity Description

1.Take 10 beans (for example, kidney beans or pinto beans) and set them aside
2.Soaking seeds can help with germination. Put the seeds (the beans) in a bowl filled with lukewarm water for at least 2 hours, but you can leave them overnight
3.Then wet some paper towel or napkin and squeeze out the excess water
4.Line the bottom of a plastic container with a couple of layers of the wet towel or fill your glass container with the crumpled paper towel
5.Take the soaked beans out of the bowl and place them on the paper in the container, leaving about 4 cm between each bean, or in your glass jar put the seeds between the wall of the container and the paper towel so that the paper towel holds them in place.
6.Put another layer of damp paper towel over the beans
7.Put the lid on top of the container to help keep the moisture in, and leave somewhere warm like a sunny windowsill or on top of a refrigerator
8.Check the beans every day and keep the paper towel moist
9.Once you see a tiny white root starting to emerge from the bean – it has germinated!
10.You can plant the moment you see the root is visible - or you can leave the beans a couple more days to watch the root growing (try planting a few early on and some a bit later).
(Note: It usually takes between 4 and 7 days before roots sprout, but this varies on the age of the seed and the conditions, and note - not all the beans may sprout. )