Science Activity: Bringing in the Tulips

If you've visited this blog for at least a few months, you may remember that in September we planted tulip bulbs in pots with our homeschool group.  This was an idea that I had found in the book we've been using for science activities this year, The Kids' Nature Book.  We did this in hopes of forcing them to come up before tulips would naturally bloom outside.  Then we could enjoy pretty flowers inside during the winter!

From what I've read, tulips need to be exposed to the cold for about 3 months before they can be brought inside.  I noticed that my bulbs had green things poking out of them, so I thought that now would probably be a good time to bring them in!  This is my first time doing this, so I have no idea if we are doing it right, but it looks like it is working =)

We set the pot on a sunny window sill and gave it a good drink of water.  We went over the basics of gardening...plants need sunlight and water to grow.  I had Trevor see how the dry dirt soaked the water right up.  It wanted a lot of water just like we would drink a lot of water if we were really thirsty!

Our tulips shooting up!  They look greener in real life =)

I was nervous when we first did this because people made it seem so complicated when I read about it online.  They were specifying soil types and precise temperatures that the bulbs had to be kept at for a certain amount of time and then transferred to another temperature area for the rest of the time, etc.  Honestly, we used regular potting soil and put our pot in the garage.  Now, I have no idea if we are actually going to get tulips, but it looks like it is working!  If this really does work I think I would do lots more for next year so we can have flowers all winter long!  Have you ever forced tulips?  If so I'd love to hear some tips =)

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