Best Classroom Plants For Preschool

Plants give life to everyone. They not only add beauty to the environment but also give many benefits. The major duty beneficial for people from a plant is that producing Oxygen and absorbing Carbon dioxide.

So, when we keep plants in a classroom, it encourages children to go to higher educational performances and lead a healthy life with pure air they inhale.

So, many teachers and parents focus much on keeping plants in the preschool classroom. Therefore, this article is all about the best classroom plants for the preschool. 

What are the best classroom plants for preschool? There are many good plants for a preschool classroom like; maidenhair, Boston, Lace ferns, Jade, Coleus, Marigold, etc. When considering the benefits of this, we can find many things like; improving educational capacities, improving concentration, reducing stress, etc.

First of all, you should have a clear idea of the way of starting to grow plants in a classroom. There, you have to; evaluate the available space, find resources and build partnerships, check the health of the soil, collaborate on the design, select the plants and finally create the classroom plantation. Here, make sure not to plant; flowering plants with high pollen levels, plants that lead to skin irritations, poisonous plants, etc. When you consider these things well, the children can learn under a favorable environment. 

Accordingly, in this article, I have covered how to start to grow plants in a classroom, the benefits of having classroom plants, and the best classroom plants for the preschool.

Finally, I have given you an idea about the plants you should not use as classroom plants. 

Let’s get started.

How to start growing plants in a classroom?

You should have a clear idea of the process of growing plants inside a classroom before starting to do it. So, here, let’s consider the way of doing it effectively.

1. Evaluating the available space in the classroom

First of all, you should consider the available space in your classroom to place plants.

There, you have to determine whether the place; have easy access and safety for the students, whether there is a water source to nurture the plant, whether it can be protected from potential threats, vandals, and rodents, whether the space is enough for the growth of the plant if it is a plant which needs sunlight you should consider whether the space reaches the sunlight.

2. Finding resources and building partnership

When you have partnerships with others, you can get help from them to supply the resources you need like; tools, funding, technical assistance for growing classroom plants.

Then you can maintain the plants well throughout the year.

3. Studying the health of the soil

Favorable soil is important for the good growth of any plant. You can gather samples of soil and study its quality, pH level before planting.

Then you can choose the best soil sample for your classroom plants.

4. Collaborating on the design

You can have the contribution of the whole community such as parents, children, other teachers for organizing this well.

You can consider the design ideas of all and get the best idea into action. 

5. Select the plants

Make a list of the best classroom plants and choose the best plants from them. Make sure to select plants that require low maintenance.

Also, they should be safe with desirable form and size that suits the weather and climate of the specific environment.

Make the selection of plants by categorizing them under various themes, which will be interesting for the students and help them learn something new.   

6. Create your classroom garden

Finally, you should contribute to the community, including children, teachers, and parents, to plant the selected plants and create the classroom as a favorable area for studies.

This will be a nice experience for children. So, make them touch the soil with their hands and get their participation in every step. 

What are the benefits of having classroom plants?

Plants are essential for the existence of every living being. So, the benefits are priceless.

So, you can decide the best classroom plants for the preschool after considering their importance. It will guide you in making the correct choices.

1. Classroom plants help for the academic performance

It has been found that the children show higher academic performances when they are around plants. That is because the natural environment improves children’s concentration by engaging them more with their academic activities and their surroundings.

It will motivate them to learn new things by making them absorb what they learn easily. It is said that plants contribute to the generation of positive academic environments by reducing their tendency for distraction.

Especially, the students with attention problems can be positively changed with the classroom plants. It is found that the children can focus on something new with a relaxed mind after looking about 40 seconds at the classroom plants.

2. Reducing the stress

It is not a secret that they reduce their stress when people engage in planting and nurturing plants. So, children also can reduce their stress by participating in planting and nurturing the plants.

There, they learn to direct their frustration and stress for something creative and beautiful. With the plant’s growth, children also will grow their sense of satisfaction which adds joy to their lives by reducing the mental distress.

So, this also will be an extra encouragement for children to deal with their anger, frustration, and stressful emotions. 

3. Classroom plants help with the memory and concentration

Classroom plants help children to concentrate well in their academic activities. With the calmness added by the plants for the academic environment, children will increase their accuracy by offering better and quality results.

Also, it has been found that, as parts of the natural environment, plants help improve attention and memory performance to a greater level.

4. Increasing the attention of children

It is found that the attention rate of children will increase by 70% when they are around natural plants.

Not only that, but children will also likely attend the classes when there are classroom plants at the preschool.

So, it is the best way to improve the attendance and attentiveness of children.

5. Best classroom plants help to freshen the air

Plants absorb the pollutants in the environment into their leaves and roots by purifying the air.

On the other hand, in the process of photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is absorbed and released Oxygen to the environment by these plants.

It helps for the improvement of the brain productivity of children. Also, you can manage the humidity levels of the classroom by placing plants inside it.

So, it helps to resolve the breathing problems of children by increasing the quality of air. 

What are the best classroom plants for preschool?

There are many types of plants in our environment. But we can’t use all of them as the best classroom plants. So, what plants are suitable for this? Here, let’s consider some of those plants to keep inside your classroom. 

1. Jade Plant

These plants have been popular among people as a symbol of good luck. And this is very easy to maintain. This is a fleshy type of plant.

It has a thick woody stem and rubbery leaves that can store water, so you do not want to water it every day. When maintaining a Jade plant, consider about;

• Planting it in a wider pot as they will be heavy in the future. 
• Keep the plant in a place where it is exposed to sunlight.
• Make sure not to overwater the plant. You can water it when the soil gets dry to touch.
• You can use an all-purpose fertilizer to fertilize it, and you can do it once per 3-4 months.
• Also, you should remove its dust by wiping the leaves with a cloth.

2. Spider plant

There are long, green, and thin, white leaves in spider plants. It will be very attractive if you can plant it in a hanging basket.

These plants have got their name due to the long stems that have been grown from the mother plant. When planting a spider plant, you should consider;

• Getting a free-draining potting mix for the pot that is going to plant the spider plant. 
• Keeping the plant in a place where it catches low-medium light.
• Water the plant if you only feel dry when touching the soil. 
• Maintain the beauty of the plant by pruning it. There, make sure to remove the dead leaves and unwanted roots that have been originated from the mother plant.
• If you notice that its roots are at the top of the pot, you can re-pot it.

3. Janet Craig Dracaena

This is a dracaena species. You can see a well-grown plant up to 3m tall if you do not prune it.

So, they can hide the packed cupboards in the classroom. When maintaining these plants, you have to consider;

• Not to overwater the plant. 
• Make sure to prune when it grows tall. If not, it will take up more space than you think.
• Change it to a little bit of a larger pot when the roots get filled in the previous one.
• Do not forget to flush the salt in the soil once per year.
• Also, you should remove the dust on leaves by wiping them with a cloth.

4. Chinese evergreen

There are white and green leaves in this plant. As this is a tropical plant, it favors warmer locations with a temperature of about 16 Celsius.

When maintaining the Chinese evergreen plant, you have to;

• Plant it in free-draining soil.
• Expose the pot for low-medium filtered sunlight.
• Make sure to occasionally water the plant by letting its soil dry a little until it comes to the next turn of watering.
• Remove the dead leaves and flowers by pruning them.

5. Lucky Bamboo

This is also a dracaena species. This can be grown in water or soil, as you wish.

For the easy track keeping of the watering needed for this plant, you can place its roots inside a water glass or keep the bamboo inside the pot by filling it with water and pebbles.

Also, you can plant this in well-draining soil. If you grow this plant in water, you should consider on;

• Keeping the plant without exposing it to direct sunlight.
• Be sure to place the roots of it underwater.
• When the plant gets tall, change the pot or the container.
• Take steps to prune the shoots up to about 2.5-5cm from the main stem.

And, if you grow it in soil;

• Place the plant in a place having low-medium light.
• Maintain the moisture of the soil by watering regularly. 

6. Areca Palm

This is also known as the yellow or butterfly palm. It is also one of the best choices for your classroom, which releases a vast amount of moisture for the air by removing the chemical toxins.

And this plant has aesthetic benefits. Areca palm favors sunlight, and therefore it is better to place it in a place where it exposes to sunlight.

7. English Ivy

This is best for the preschool classroom because children like this plant much. It is better to plant this in a hanging basket.

You do not want to spend more effort on growing this as it is easy to maintain and easily adapts to various environmental conditions.

But make sure not to place it at high temperature and keep it in a place where it can be exposed to indirect and medium sunlight. 

Further, you also can choose the following plants as the best plants for the classroom;

• Maidenhair
• African violets
• Coleus
• Marigold
• Prayer plant
• Christmas cactus
• Baby’s tears
• Grape Ivy
• Croton 
• Zebra plants

What plants should you not use as classroom plants?

When talking about the best classroom plants, you should have a clear idea of what plants you should not use as classroom plants.

Then you can easily distinguish between the suitable and unsuitable plants for the classroom. 

• Flowering plants having high levels of pollen

When plants like; sunflowers, daisies, Queen Anne’s lace, chamomile have higher pollen levels.

So, they are not suitable as classroom plants because they can lead to discomfort with cleaning your classroom, which creates terrible suffering.

• Plants that cause skin irritations

Some indoor plants lead to skin irritations for people with people who have sensitive skin. They will cause rashes and some other skin infections.

So, plants like; ferns, bonsai, and palm trees are not suitable for the classroom because they are plants that can cause skin irritations.

• Poisonous plants

Some plants can be poisonous when ingested. Plants like; peace lilies, snake plants, and Zanzibar are not safe for a classroom due to their toxicity.

So, you should also be careful when choosing plants for the classroom.

Conclusion – Best classroom plants for preschool

We have discussed; best classroom plants for preschool in more detail. I think this article will be beneficial for the preschool teachers as well as the parents as I have covered many important areas related to this like; how to start to grow plants in a classroom, what are the benefits of having classroom plants, what are the best classroom plants for the preschool and finally, I have given you an idea about the plants that you should not use as classroom plants.

Plants help for the existence of all living beings. So, by placing plants inside the preschool classroom, you can have many benefits like; helping for academic performance, reducing stress, helping for memory and concentration, etc.

So, you can start to grow plants in the classroom by following the steps like; evaluating the available space, finding resources and building partnership, studying the health of the soil, collaborating on the design, and selecting the plants. Here, plants like; jade Plant, spider plant, Janet Craig Dracaena, etc., are best for the classroom.

Also, make sure not to plant; flowering plants have high levels of pollen, plants that cause skin irritations, and poisonous plants. So, it is clear that classroom plants are additional help for the academic purposes of children.

Thank you for reading this post. Stay tuned with Edu Nursery for more valuable content.