Materials
- Construction paper or Cardstock (one or two pieces, depending if you want your house and roof different colors)
- 1 sandwich-size Ziplock baggie
- Seeds (lima beans, cowpeas, snap peas, sunflower seeds, marigolds, radishes, alfalfa sprouts and mung beans all sprout fairly quickly so are good options for this project, but feel free to choose your favorite plant!)
- 5-6 cotton balls
- Water
- Tape (ductape or electric tape works best, but use whatever you have!)
Instructions
- Place your seeds in a glass of water to soak overnight. This helps them start to sprout faster!
- Use the plastic bag to trace a square onto one sheet of paper, and cut it out.
- Fold the square in half to cut out the inside, leaving a hollow square piece of paper (see picture).
- Cut out a roof shape from the paper and glue it to the square base.
- Decorate your house with markers or crayons if you want.
- Dip your cotton balls in a bowl of water, or hold them under the sink faucet, then squeeze some water out so they are wet through but not dripping.
- Put the cotton balls in the Ziplock bag and add the seeds.
- Seal the bag and tape it to the house outline, so that it is framed by the hollow square (see picture).
- Tape the completed house to a window that gets lots of sun, and wait for the seeds to sprout!
1. Soak the seeds 
2. Use the bag to measure and cut out the square for your house. 
3. Cut out the inside of the square. 
4. Make a roof for your house (use the leftover paper) and glue it to the square base. 
5. Decorate as much as you want. 
6. Soak the cotton balls, then squeeze out some water so they are wet but not dripping heavily. 
7. Put the cotton balls and seeds in the bag.
8. Tape the bag to the back of your house shape.
9. Hang the house in a sunny window and wait for the seeds to sprout!!
Strafford Storytimes 