100 Days of Science #26-- Growing our own Tickle Plants

When I was in middle school and high school, I used to babysit for this family down the street and they had a huge plant in their bay window that would close all of it's leaves when you touched it.  I always thought that was the neatest plant and I have been looking for one for years.



I finally found this kit on Amazon and the boys I decided to plan our own tickle plants.  The kit comes with three seed packets (we used one seed packet and ended up with a lot of baby plants), 6 tiny flower pots, a mini plastic greenhouse, some dehydrated soil to fit in the pots, and a full set of instructions and activity ideas.


We soaked our seeds for 24 hours before planting


You can see the re-hydrated versus the dehydrated soil in our cups.



Once all the soil was fluffed back up we mixed it up a bit with a fork and then added a few seeds in each pot.  (We had so many seeds left in our water that we also planted a large pot full of them).


We closed up our greenhouse (and covered our extra pot with cling wrap) then placed the plants in the sun.


As soon as the plant began to sprout we uncovered them and continued to watch them grow. 



The first set of leaves that show up are not ticklish but every set of leaves above that close whenever you touch them.  My boys have found this just as fascinating as I did.


 







They've grown so much in just a few short weeks!  



by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo YoureTheStarHopLarge_zpsjbrldhcx.jpg


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Comments

  1. Sheltie TimesMay 21, 2018 at 7:17 AM

    Gardening is such a great activity for kids because it can easily become a life time love with the confidence learned in childhood. For some reason the mistakes that some times happen in childhood with plants seem OK. However, as adults I've heard more people claim I kill everything I grow, when in fact it is just the realities of learning how to grow things that most kids accept as trial and error.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3May 21, 2018 at 4:55 PM

      I have to laugh because I say that ALL the time! :) I never grew much as a child or an adult so there is definitely a learning curve to it all.

      Delete
  2. Andrea NineMay 21, 2018 at 8:57 AM

    Gardening and growing their own plants was always a favorite of the boys and for me it still is. I love these sweet little plants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3May 21, 2018 at 4:55 PM

      They are so funny. I hope we'll get them to grow into a huge household plant.

      Delete
  3. Annette VMay 22, 2018 at 12:51 AM

    sensitive plants are rather cool. We had one for a spell and then a cat happened. The plant wasn't appreciative of the visit and therefore emotionally ran away causing well.. you know. :) if I lived closer I'd beg one off you to try again. (this time away from where a sneaky cat could find it).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3May 22, 2018 at 6:09 AM

      Good tip; I'll have to make sure our cat stays away. If you want to e-mail me your address I'd be happy to mail you one of the extra seed packets we didn't use.

      Delete
  4. • Model the Joy •May 23, 2018 at 11:22 PM

    I've never heard of these before...they look like fun :) I'll have to look into maybe trying these with my girls.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3May 24, 2018 at 5:46 AM

      It's a lot of fun! I can't help but tough them when I walk by.

      Delete
  5. Alana - Burnished ChaosMay 27, 2018 at 4:15 PM

    I remember we had one of these on the living room windowsill when I was little and I was fascinated with it. I'd totally forgotten about it till now. I'm gong to have to get some for my tow as I know they'd love them. Thank you for joining the #FamilyFunLinky x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mother of 3May 28, 2018 at 9:30 AM

      You're welcome! They really are fun to play with.

      Delete
  6. Angelique Ouellette-TowerJune 18, 2018 at 7:10 PM

    This wonderful post is a GARDEN feature on the June You're the STAR blog hop: https://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/2018/06/youre-star-week1-garden-june-2018.html
    Thanks
    Angie

    ReplyDelete

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