Celebrate St. Patrick's Day while exploring science and grow shamrocks!
My kids loved checking on their lucky clover pots each day, and the shamrocks were actually pretty easy to grow. Read on for the full tutorial.
We began by reading a few books about plants and how they grow. We also read this book about Ireland and the St. Patrick's Day symbols. Then, we gathered our supplies and set out to grow our own shamrocks!
Growing Shamrocks with Kids
Materials
- Shamrock seeds
- Flower pots or cauldrons
- Potting soil
- Water
Method
Before you begin you will want to cool the shamrock seeds by placing them in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Once the seeds are cool have kids fill their pot(s) with soil, leaving just a few inches of space at the top of the pot.
- Dampen the soil. You want it to be moist but not saturated.
- Then, have kids carefully place 5-10 shamrock seeds into the soil.
- Have kids use their finger to gently push the seeds into the soil but do not cover them.
- Then, place your pots in a window that receives indirect sunlight and water them as needed.
- Observe your shamrock planters over the next few days, ensuring that you keep the soil damp but not too wet.
- In 1-2 weeks you should start to see growth!
My girls were so excited and couldn't wait to check on their planters each day to see how much their shamrocks had grown!
After 3 weeks our planters looked like this.
And after a month we were well on our way to a full shamrock garden!
Growing shamrocks is a great way to teach children about the life cycle of plants.
Rosie and Jewel were hoping to grow a four-leaf clover, which occurs randomly when growing shamrocks. That hasn't happened yet, but the girls are still keeping hope.
Extend the Fun
- Use a leprechaun pot in place of terracotta to make this fun experiment even more magical.
- Add a leprechaun to your clover pot, and you now have a magical leprechaun garden!
Tips & Resources
- Be sure to use flower pots with drainage holes.
- Do not place your shamrock planters in direct sunlight.
- Do not plant too many shamrock seeds at once. Shamrocks will not grow if they are overcrowded.
- Do not over-saturate your shamrock planters. Using a spray bottle to water the shamrocks can help to ensure proper amounts are given.
- Keep your planters in a warm place.
- I recommend using a potting soil that helps to control and retain moisture. The potting soil that we used can be found on Amazon here.
- Shamrock seeds can be hard to find in stores. We purchased ours on Amazon here.
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