I was given a sunsugar cherry tomato plant at my garden club and placed it in a large pot on my deck to keep it away from wildlife. It has grown so fast, and all stages of growth can be observed. Such an easy choice to teach children about a plant’s life cycle!

Use math skills to track the growth of your plant. Tomato plants can be determinate or indeterminate. Indeterminate plants grow continuously and produce tomatoes regularly, but determinate plants stop growing after the first fruiting. I definitely have an indeterminate plant! Learn more about pruning tomatoes here.

Task your children or students with keeping a journal of the tomato’s life cycle.

Read more about growing tomatoes on the Kid’s Gardening website.

Open the tomato to find the seeds, let them dry, and begin the cycle again. Before you open the tomato, estimate how many seeds will be inside. Do all tomatoes have the same number of seeds?

Remember a tomato is a fruit. Why? Watch full screen here.

Have a tomato tasting party and taste a variety of tomatoes. There are 10,000 varieties! Use the following humorous book, I Will Never, Not Ever Eat a Tomato, to begin your party. Watch full screen here.