DIY planter box

Growing seedlings in compostable home-made paper containers

This is one of a set of resources developed to support the teaching of the primary national curriculum. They are designed to support the delivery of key topics within maths and science. This resource focuses on plants and how they grow. Learners will make a compostable plant container, plant and grow a seed.

Plants are an important part of our natural environment. We can use our science knowledge to better understand them and hence the environment around us!

Activity info, teachers’ notes and curriculum links

In this activity learners will make a compostable plant box and then plant and grow a seed that can later be grown outside.

This activity could be used as a main lesson activity, to teach learners how to plant seeds and care for their growth. They will also gain an understanding of what seeds need to grow i.e. sunlight, soil and water.

It could be used as one of several activities within a wider scheme of learning focussing on the use of science to understand the natural environment. It could also be used to develop initial understanding of nets (making 3D forms from 2D shapes), contributing to learning in maths. It could also be used to start a discussion on the environment, as the container is biodegradable, whilst many traditional plant pots are made from polymers (which in turn are made from non-renewable oil), which take hundreds of years to decompose.

The activity sheet includes teachers’ notes, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Download the free activity sheet for free!

All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs.

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