Sprouting mung beans in kindergarten

Sprouting mung beans

As one of our Echo-School topics for this academic year is health and well-being, we often deal with the topic of healthy/unhealthy habits in our everyday lives. Last week we sprouted mung beans for ourselves. We started with observing the beans thoroughly (their color, size and the germ) and discussed what is needed for the beans to sprout (water, air). 

We used the scheme on the board to present the expected result and compare our the process with the pictures on the board. 

 

 

 

Everyday twice a day children took turns, rinsed and drained the beans.

 

 

 

We used a special sprouting tray which made it easy to use it with the children and they could take care of the sprouts pretty independently. We kept the beans/sprouts on the table to keep an eye on them and every now and then children checked if the beans had grown a “tale” yet or not. Four days and the sprouts were ready to eat!

 

We have different nationalities in our kindergarten and group and it also means that children have very different eating habits. Some children loved the sprouts, some considered these a bit strange, but all of the children tasted them at least. Mung bean sprouts is the good choice to start with (e.g alfalfa sprouts might be a little too bitter for some children).  

Growing/making of something gives us a good opportunity to practice sharing. We divided our harvest so we could give some of the sprouts to the group next door and also bring some to teachers´ room. Some children were a bit worried that there will not be enough for ourselves but at the end it turned out that there was enough for all of us.