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TickleMe Plant Review & Giveaway
I have worked with children in a variety of settings—from teaching at a private school to summer science camps, and now as a homeschool mom, I’ve noticed that children love creating, building, and growing plants in every setting. I think this is a wonderful expression of their natural curiosity and desire to learn. I’ve also observed how the process of gardening and growing things can continue to nurture these qualities!
I recently learned about a company called TickleMe Plants™ , which was started by a science teacher with over 30 years of classroom experience. This teacher wanted to engage children everywhere in caring for a specific type of plant—the “TickleMe Plant™.”
You may not have heard of a TickleMe Plant™ before (I hadn’t.) The formal name for this plant is Mimosa pudica, a member of the Mimosa family native to South and Central America. What makes this plant so special is that it is interactive—it responds to touch! I was fascinated by the idea of a plant that responded in a human-like way. I thought my two children would be, too, so I was thrilled we got the chance to review this unique plant/product for The Homeschool Scientist!
In this review, I’ll cover the materials included in the TickleMe Plants™ Greenhouse Kit, discuss what the growing process looked like (as supervised by my 8-year-old), and share results after a few weeks of growth. I’ll also talk about the educational benefits of this type of project and share some additional learning ideas that you may want to include in your own TickleMe Plants™ experience.
In exchange for this review, the TickleMe Plant™ company sent me their TickleMe Plant™ Greenhouse Kit, which included the following items:
- 3 TickleMe Plant™ seed packets with 10-20 Mimosa pudica seeds per packet
- 1 small, reusable greenhouse made out of recycled plastic. This had a place to contain each of the mini pots and was 6.75″ x 4.5″ x 6″.
- 6 mini flowerpots
- 6 soil pellets
- Easy-to-grow instructions
Cost & Value
There are many different types of TickleMe Plant™ kits on the website, but this is one of the larger kits containing supplies to grow several plants. There are 6 mini-flower pots included, but you could actually grow up to 60 plants with the seeds provided in this kit.
Obviously, this makes it a great family activity where everyone can have several plants of their own to grow and study.
Plus, it’s super-affordable! The Tickle Me Plant Company is extending a 15% discount if you use the coupon code Homeschool!
One of my favorite things about the kit was the low-profile yet multi-purpose recycled plastic greenhouse. It served as part of the product packaging, a carrier for the flowerpots, and a tool to get your TickleMe Plant™ started in a moist, warm environment. The fact that the greenhouse was made from recycled plastic also ties in perfectly with environmental learning and discussing the importance of recycling, which I liked.
The instructions were straightforward and included tips for planting, information about when to see sprouting, etc. They weren’t illustrated, but they were simple enough for my 8-year-old to read and understand.
The TickleMe Plant™ Greenhouse kit is $24.05 if purchased at the regular price.
BUT, SAVE 15% by using coupon code Homeschool.
There are more inexpensive kits, but I think this is a great value for what you receive, particularly if you:
- Have more than one child interested in growing a plant in a homeschool or small co-op setting.
- Plan to use the greenhouse included to study more about controlled environments or urban ecology.
- Want a kit that includes everything you need to get started, so you don’t have to assemble soil and planters yourself (a win for me, for sure!).
- Want to have a few tries at your plant getting mature at once! A couple of our plants didn’t make it (user error), so it was good to have six started at once. The ability to move six different potted plants around to different light sources is also great if you plan to try some experiments with your plants!
Getting Started
We have a worktable in the kitchen, so I set up everything on top of a plastic tablecloth in case it got messy! I asked my 8-year-old to read the instructions aloud and follow them by herself, while my toddler and I supervised.
The instructions also guided my daughter through the planting process, and she carefully followed them. Like many homeschool parents, I like to use the process of reading and following instructions in my homeschool whenever possible. I think it’s a great way to foster attentiveness and sequencing skills. With something like this, it also creates a sense of independence that is fun for kids.
After planting the seeds, we close the greenhouse and set it in a warm, sunny window as per the instructions.
Sprouting
I didn’t have to remind my daughter to check on the seeds to see if they had sprouted. She checked on them several times a day all on her own. Within a week, we were all excited to be able to see the first sprouts! One of the plants had been over-watered, but the others all made it! This seems to be a very hearty plant. Seeing plants begin to sprout is always such a fun part for kids. I think it is the moment that gets them fully invested in the process!
Continued Growth
The plants continued to grow over the next couple of weeks. As the instructions noted, the first set of leaves does not respond to touch. However, the second set of leaves appeared in about the third week!
Sure enough, as soon as the second set of leaves appeared, they recoiled when “tickled!” It was so exciting to see this happen the first time, and it continues to be more exciting as the plant keeps growing! The videos below show how the TickleMe Plants™ responded after about 3-4 weeks of growth.
Both of my children were delighted and entertained by this phenomenon! My daughter has to check on the TickleMe Plants™ about once a day to make sure they still respond the same way. She has also noticed that they close their leaves as the sun goes down and will tell them, “Goodnight, plants!”
She especially loves this project because she feels almost like the plants are “little friends, or like pets!” She already loved plants, but I think the interactive nature of the TickleMe Plants™ has helped her love growing things even more.
How long until full growth?
At the time of writing this review, our TickleMe Plants™ are still not fully grown. However, they are growing fast, and I can definitely vouch for their heartiness! We went on a trip and our house sitter forgot to water them. They looked pretty sad when we came back, but some watering perked most of them right back up again.
According to the TickleMe Plant™ Website, our plants may reach a height of about 5 inches in a few more weeks. They can apparently keep growing to a height of a few feet! At maturity, this plant also grows thorns and pink flowers. The thorns can easily be removed with a nail clipper. We will definitely have to keep watching to see if we can get to that point, and we have plenty of seeds to plant more, too!
Educational Benefits of TickleMe Plants™
Growing any plant is a wonderful way to nurture your child’s love of nature and observational skills at the same time. The TickleMe Plant™ has the added advantage of being interactive, which helps children think about plants more as living beings. In terms of education, this deeper connection with plant life could spark more future interest in nature, biology, and environmental issues. It can also be a great hook for teaching your child more about greenhouses, urban ecology, ecosystems, or general plant behavior.
As I saw with my daughter, the process of planting and growing the TickleMe Plant™ is a simple task that has a lot of benefits! Children who are invested in projects like TickleMe Plant™ will become observers and caretakers while also growing their critical thinking skills. They’ll watch closely for that first sprout and for the second set of leaves to appear. They’ll engage with their plant and observe how it reacts to different touches and temperatures. They’ll wonder why the plant behaves a certain way in different lights and notice how much water seems to be the right amount each day.
Caring for a plant – especially one that feels more sentient- is also a great way to help teach children about responsibility. Of course, this quality can have many benefits within the realm of education and beyond!
With something like this TickleMe Plant™ project, all of these things are achieved in a casual, hands-on learning format. Growing this plant may not feel like a lesson to children, but there are a lot of things they will naturally gain from the experience!
Additional Resources & Ideas
The TickleMe Plant™ website has some additional experiments and ideas to expand your Tickle Me Plant experience if you want to hone those scientific observational skills even more! Here are some of ideas of questions to ask/observations to make from their site.
Creative TickleMe Plant Side Projects
I had a few more ideas for ways to integrate this project in your homeschool!
- Keep a detailed nature journal about the TickleMe Plant™ , including illustrations, observations about growth, and records of the above ideas and experiments.
- Research more about greenhouses and why we use them. What are some things needed to make a functional greenhouse, and why does the one included in the kit work?
- Continuing on the greenhouse theme, you could research some techniques used in urban ecology and urban farming (such as a hydroponic garden). What are some things we can do to replicate a plant’s natural environment in foreign environments to help it grow?
- Research more about the native environment of the Mimosa pudica (TickleMe Plant™ ). Would it grow well naturally where you live? Why or why not?
- Make up a story, play, or comic book about the TickleMe Plant™ , explaining why it doesn’t like to be touched!
Conclusion
I am so glad that my family and I got to try the TickleMe Plant™ Greenhouse Kit! It has been a fun and easy science project that teaches many concepts without taking up a lot of time or feeling like formal learning. This interactive plant has been engaging for my children, especially my 8-year-old, who took charge of it, and I think that most children would find this experience fascinating! This engaging activity can be expanded upon and adapted in your homeschool—whether you want it to simply be a fun family activity, a doorway to more gardening projects, or a hook for future science learning and activities. The TickleMe Plant™ Greenhouse Kit is simple to use and comes at an affordable price point for what it is: a fun, unique, and educational experience that your whole family will enjoy.
Where to Purchase and Get More Information
Check out the TickleMe Plant kits and gift packs on their website and follow them on social media. Don’t forget to use coupon code “Homeschool” to receive 15% off your order.
Then, check out the generous giveaway below. Add this fun plant study to your homeschool, co-op, or classroom. This is truly a unique and engaging project for the entire family!
Enter the Giveaway for a TickleMe Plant Greenhouse Kit
Katie is a Christian, wife, writer, and homeschooling mother of two. She and her husband are both homeschool graduates who now homeschool their children. Katie is passionate about literature, the arts, STEM, and education. Katie has a MA in English and literature, and she works with her local STEM organization and Classical Conversations community to help create hands-on learning opportunities for children. She teaches NASA Astro Camp every summer, and she loves to read and paint whenever she can. She believes that the arts and sciences have much more in common than many people realize!