Homeschooling is all about creating meaningful, hands-on learning experiences that connect kids to the world around them. Gardening is one of the best ways to engage your children in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) while teaching valuable lessons about responsibility, sustainability, and the environment.

At Adapt Your Table, we’ve developed the “STEM in the Garden” Activity Sheet and a corresponding Mini Lesson Plan to help homeschool families like yours bring science to life in a fun, interactive way.

Here’s how you can use gardening to teach STEM concepts right from your backyard or kitchen!

Why Gardening and STEM?

Gardening offers countless opportunities for children to explore science and technology in a natural, hands-on setting. It’s an engaging way to teach kids about:

• Plant Biology: Understand how plants grow and what they need to thrive.
• Environmental Science: Explore microclimates and how different environments affect plant growth.
• Data Analysis: Measure and record plant growth, introducing concepts like data collection and graphing.
• Engineering: Build small systems like mini greenhouses to understand how controlled environments work.

Plus, gardening fosters responsibility and patience while encouraging kids to connect with the earth—and their food.

The “STEM in the Garden” Activity Sheet

Our activity sheet includes four simple yet engaging activities designed to help your kids explore STEM concepts while growing their love for gardening. Here’s what they’ll do:

1. Track Plant Growth
   Teach your kids to measure plant height every few days, record the data, and create a graph to visualize their findings. This activity introduces data collection and analysis in an easy-to-understand way.

2. Explore Microclimates
   Help your children place plants in different environments—sunlight and shade—and observe how the conditions affect growth. They’ll learn how temperature and environment impact plants using a thermometer and soil moisture readings.

3. Soil Science Experiment
   Grab jars, collect soil samples, and add water to watch the layers settle. Kids can compare sand, clay, and loam to discover the best soil type for growing plants.

4. Build a Mini Greenhouse
   Use a plastic bottle to create a tiny greenhouse and compare how plants grow inside versus outside. This activity introduces kids to the greenhouse effect and controlled environments.

How This Helps Your Homeschooling Journey

Incorporating gardening into your homeschool lessons will teach your kids practical STEM skills while fostering a deeper appreciation for nature. These activities:

• Encourage curiosity and critical thinking.
• Provide real-world applications for STEM concepts.
• Help children understand sustainability and where their food comes from.

Most importantly, these lessons are flexible, fun, and easy to adapt to your child’s interests and your family’s schedule.

Continue to read: Mini Lesson Plan.