Educational Insights Sprout & Grow Window

Usually I’m very impressed with all learning resources / educational insights products, but this one was NOT built to last. The plastic window wasn’t a sturdy or thick plastic, it was the same thin plastic a toy usually comes packaged in. I sent it back.

The product comes with 1 packet of bean seeds, and 1 packet of pea seeds. It recommends using 4 seeds total at one time in the grow window. There are probably like 40+ seeds provided, so theres plenty. The directions are simple and says to germinate the seeds for 2-3 days in a cup with moist paper towels before planting in the soil. This was a success as all of the seeds germinated and are growing pretty fast - about a half inch per day so far!The instructions say to use 40 out of the 50 included soil pellets. Only having 10 left, it only comes with enough for one use, but im sure you can just use your own soil if you choose to do it a second time.I remember having this experiment in school and I found it very interesting. You can see the roots grow below the soil and learn how seeds work. This would be very good in a classroom setting. It includes a little chart to track the progress of the plants, and also includes information and diagrams on seeds. It is a very economical way to teach plant growing. I think it would also be great as a homeschooling project, or even just a fun experiment. Checking the plants every day to see their progress is fun and also teaches how to keep notes and track progress.I added just a little bit more water to the 40 soil pellets then they said because it seemed slightly dry. The soil absorbs it and expands immediately. I planted the germinated seeds today and I expect them to do well. Next time I may plant some carrots.I highly recommend this product if you wish to teach kids about planting, seeds, and roots, and also to provide a fun experiment. If you wish, you can also plant whatever seeds you wish. The size is perfect for a windowsill.

it breaks easily, its leaking a water each time the plant is watered

My four year old and I worked on this project together after she received it for her birthday. I created a "science notebook" to write down our observations, including whether we observed roots, leaves, flowers, how much sunlight the plants receives, and whether we watered it. She also wanted to count the number of leaves and the height of each of the plants on "observation days," usually every other day for several weeks. It took about 15 minutes every other day, although sometimes she requested to write down observations more frequently if something very interesting happened like a new plant sprouted or grew several inches.We initially wet eight seeds, four pea and four bean in damp paper towels. All germinated and we transferred two of each into the window for a total of four plants. All four sent down long roots, but only three of the plants sprouted (one of the pea plants never had any stem or leaf growth). The two bean plants are currently over 20 inches tall each, and the one pea plant is about five inches tall,The window itself is made of plastic that is not terribly sturdy. It is sufficient for exploration of plant growth and has withstood the handling of my four year old though. She loves to water her plants, and her excitement to show me how they have changed is priceless!Highly recommend!

The kit is cute and my 4 year old loves it. Comes with 2 sets of seeds (beans and peas). The kit is thin plastic, but does the job. My complaint is that the dirt pods included - even when we used all of them, do not reach past half way up the planter. According to the instructions we didn’t need to use all the soil pods (it says to only use 10 and save the rest for another project) but when we only used 10 it was so shallow that we added the rest in too. We pre-sprouted our seeds in a plastic cup prior to transferring them to the planter (according to the instructions) so it was fun to see the roots coming out when we planted them. Now we’re looking forward to seeing even more growth!