What Peschoolers will Learn:

Basic gardening skills

How to plant plants

That some plants are edible and great for cooking

The use of their senses (herbs smell, feel, look, and taste different)

What you Need:

A large pot, gardening box or several small pots

Herbs from your local plant store (see What Herbs are Good to Plant)

Dirt

Water

What Herbs are Good to Plant?

In the beginning, stick with easy to maintain culinary plants. Review any safety precautions, because too much of some herbs are dangerous and if your preschooler samples a bit of the plant, you want it to b safe. Stay away from poisonous herbs such as Aloe Vera.

Examples of good herbal plants include:

Parsley

Oregano

Rosemary

Thyme

Sage

Mint

Cilantro

What To Do:

Step one: Pour some dirt into your pots. Depending on the size of your pot, you may want several herbs in one pot, or you may want a separate pot for each herb. Let your preschooler decide what would be best.

Step two: Teach your preschooler how to plant the herbs, being careful to not to hurt the seedlings.

Step three: Water them carefully.

Step four: Read the instructions for care of your herbs carefully. Some herbs do great in direct sunlight while others will actually burn.

Step five: Create gardening markers for your herbs with this fun preschol craft activity.

Once your Herbs are Growing:

Have your preschooler harvest the herbs that you need for cooking. They should be careful not to pull out the whole plant and you need leave enough of the plant to keep the plant growing. Have your preschooler wash the herbs, observe you chop them, and then add them to your cooking dish.

Teach your preschooler to smell the herbs—herbs are very pungent and a fun game involves smelling the different herbs.

Your preschooler can even taste the herbs, under close supervision. However, you should teach them that not all plants are good for tasting.

Don't worry too much if your preschooler abuses the herbs a little bit—herbs actually taste better if they've been abused.

Hi! I'm Theresa Halvorsen, the preschool science and nature writer for Preschoolrock.com. I have twin boys and am blown away by their fascination with preschool science and how the world works around them. I am always looking for fun and simple science activities so preschoolers can learn about science and the natural world. Please contact me with any suggestions, ideas or questions you have about this site.

Helpful Tips for Parents

• Integrate science into daily routines: cooking (chemistry), gardening (biology), building (physics), weather watching (meteorology). A science-rich home requires no special equipment.

• Connect science observations to real-world applications: "This is why bridges are built this way" or "This is how your body does that." Application makes science relevant.

• Science fear is learned, not innate. Preschoolers approach science with natural confidence — protect that confidence by keeping science joyful and low-stakes.

• The best science projects are the ones children generate themselves by noticing something in the world and asking why. Adult-imposed experiments are valuable; child-generated experiments are extraordinary.

Frequently Asked Questions

At what age can preschoolers do science experiments?

Simple science exploration begins in infancy — dropping objects (gravity), banging surfaces (acoustics), mouthing materials (texture and taste). By age 2, children engage meaningfully with water play, sand science, and simple mixing experiments. Between ages 3–5, children can follow simple experimental protocols: predict, observe, record, and discuss results. The scientific method — hypothesis, experiment, conclusion — is accessible at age 4 with appropriate support. The best preschool science is the child's own curiosity, not a formal curriculum.

Related reading: See also our science experiments at home and our nature walks guide for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 😌 Patience & Delayed Gratification — Experiments with delayed results — growing plants, watching crystals form, tracking weather — teach children to wait for outcomes rather than needing immediate feedback, a skill that predicts academic and life success.
• 🤔 Critical Thinking — Making a prediction, testing it, and explaining the result develops logical reasoning — the ability to move from observation to explanation that underlies all scientific, mathematical, and analytical disciplines.
• 🌱 Curiosity & Wonder — Science that feels like magic cultivates the sense of wonder that keeps children asking questions throughout their lives — the foundational attitude that drives all learning and discovery.
• 📏 Early Math & Measurement — Measuring ingredients, comparing quantities, and observing size changes connects science directly to mathematical thinking — making science experiments some of the richest early math experiences available.

A wonderful activity for you and your preschooler on Earth Day is starting an herb garden. Using your own grown products in the kitchen not only saves money, but it saves the gas needed to transport the product to and from the grocery store, the plastic bag used to store the herb and carry it home and the herb itself—who completely uses those gigantic bunches of fresh herbs before they go bad? Teach your preschooler to start an herb garden and you'll teach them more than about gardening.