Gardening activities for preschool: a week of planting

This week of gardening activities for preschool guides Nursery (ages 3–4) children through hands-on investigations of outdoor life, plant growth, and living things. Over five structured days, children germinate beans, compare seeds, explore plant needs like sunlight and water, and identify gardening tools. Along the way, practical tasks reinforce letter Ll recognition, ABAB patterning, and early counting in an engaging classroom setting.

At a glance

Aspect	Details
Age band	Nursery (ages 3–4)
Length	5 days
Learning goals	Investigate garden life and seed origins; identify sunlight, water, and soil needed for growth; distinguish weeds and recognise garden tools; practise letter Ll, ABAB patterns, numbers 16–20, and size sequencing
Key materials	Beans, paper towels, ziplock bags, garden leaves, sticks, stones, flowers, fresh produce with seeds, soil, recycled plastic bottles, paint, letter Ll cards, and number cards
Printables	Nursery Week 15 — Gardening (lesson plan) and Nursery · Gardening · Week 15 — Combined week package (TP + Tasksheets)

The five-day plan

Day 1: Investigating Gardens

What is a garden? Describe a garden you have been to?

Children begin the week with a guided outdoor walk to observe the garden environment, listen to nature sounds, and gather fallen leaves. Back in the classroom, they place a bean on a damp paper towel inside a sealed ziplock bag and tape it to a bright window to monitor germination. Supervision note: Dried beans and small stones present a choking hazard for children at this age, so keep them within adult reach and supervise handling closely. In literacy and numeracy, children paste collected leaves onto a large letter Ll outline to connect the letter sound with nature words, then construct alternating leaf and stick patterns alongside the Exploring ABAB Pattern tasksheet.

Day 2: Discovering Seeds

Do all fruits and vegetables have seeds?

Children check their window germination bags before examining freshly sliced apples, capsicums, tomatoes, and pears in small groups. They inspect the shapes, sizes, and colours of the seeds inside each specimen, recording their observations on the Exploring Seeds in Fruits and Vegetables printable before creating textured seed collages with glue and paper. For literacy and numeracy, children sift through a sensory tray of rice to uncover hidden letter Ll cards, sing phonics verses, and toss soft balls toward wall targets to practise recognising numbers 16 to 20.

Day 3: Exploring Essentials for Plant Growth

Why do you think plants grow better in sunlight?

Children inspect their sprouting window beans and observe pictures of plants kept away from sunlight to understand what vegetation requires to thrive. After discussing how sunlight, water, and healthy soil support living seedlings, they collect twigs, leaves, and flowers on a short garden stroll, tie them into nature brushes with thread, and paint pictures supported by the Exploring Growth of Plants tasksheet. During literacy and numeracy time, children form the letter Ll with their bodies, share items from home for show and tell, and build tall pattern towers using colourful building blocks.

Day 4: Researching about Weeds

Why do we remove weeds?

Children take an observational walk around the garden grounds to spot common non-poisonous weeds and learn how unwanted plants compete with flowers for soil moisture and sunlight. Returning indoors, they sing garden action songs and dip their fingertips into bright yellow paint to create textured dandelion artwork on pre-drawn templates. Literacy and numeracy activities follow with a shared reading of the story “The Prince and the Seedling”, yarn lacing through punched letter Ll cards, and arranging fallen sticks and leaves from smallest to biggest using the Exploring Sequencing by Size worksheet.

Day 5: Discovering Gardening Tools

What do you think a gardener needs to work?

Children study picture cards of spades, trowels, rakes, and watering cans to understand how gardeners care for the soil. They transplant their sprouted window beans into recycled plastic bottles filled with compost, water them gently, and illustrate the bean life cycle with crayons alongside the Knowing Gardening Tools printable. To close the week, children use small brooms to sweep scattered leaves into a giant tape letter L on the floor, trace letter Ll in notebooks or on slates, and roll dice in a 1 to 20 counting board game.

Adapting the week

• For younger or less confident children: Offer pre-cut leaves and larger building blocks for patterning, and provide pre-drawn outlines so children can focus on finger placement rather than complex sorting.
• For children who need more challenge: Extend ABAB patterns into more complex repeating sequences using three natural elements, or invite children to label plant parts and count past 20 during the board game.
• For indoor settings without garden access: Bring a tray of potting compost, collected twigs, and store-bought root vegetables inside so children can observe soil textures and foliage without leaving the classroom.
• For home learners: Repurpose empty yoghurt pots or egg cartons for seed germination, and use kitchen utensils such as spoons and measuring cups to explore tool functions.

Questions teachers ask

How do you explain the difference between weeds and garden plants to 3-year-olds?

Keep the explanation visual and relatable. Tell children that weeds are wild plants that sprout in places where we did not plant them. Because weeds drink up the water and take away the sunlight and soil nutrients that garden flowers need, gardeners gently pull them out. Comparing dandelion leaves with planted flowers during an outdoor walk gives children a clear, practical way to recognise why gardeners clear unwanted growth.

What should you do if the ziplock bean seeds do not sprout quickly?

Germination speed depends on warmth, moisture, and light. Check that the paper towel remains damp without becoming waterlogged, and ensure the sealed plastic bag receives direct natural sunlight on the windowpane. Setting up two or three extra seed bags at the beginning of the week guarantees that every child has a viable sprout ready to observe, sketch, and transplant into recycled bottles by Day 5.

How can you safely manage seed sensory activities with preschool children?

Small seeds and dried beans pose a choking risk for children aged 3–4, so structured handling is vital. Divide seeds into shallow individual trays rather than communal bowls, and maintain direct adult supervision while children explore textures. For sensory sorting, pressing seeds directly onto glued card or sliding them inside clear sealed pouches lets children explore shapes safely without putting loose items near their mouths.

Get the printables

The complete step-by-step teaching notes and printable activity sheets for this unit are available in the Superbuddy resource library. You can download the Nursery Week 15 — Gardening (lesson plan) alongside the Nursery · Gardening · Week 15 — Combined week package (TP + Tasksheets) to access every warm-up, story script, and tasksheet. It is free to start with a free account, or you can explore related teaching units in the gardening topic hub.