How to Teach Kids About Herbs at Home, One Plant a Week

The easiest way to teach kids about herbs is one plant a week: read and talk about it, look at it up close and draw it, do something with it in the kitchen, and learn where it comes from. Start with herbs you already have in your spice cabinet or garden, and let your kids smell and touch the plant before you tell them a single fact about it.

You do not need to be an expert, and you do not need a garden. Here is how to set it up.

What age can kids start learning about herbs?

Kindergarten is a great age to start. Young children learn plants best with their hands and noses: crushing a leaf, smelling it, feeling the underside. That is not a warm-up for the real lesson, it is the lesson. A child who does it learns to really know a plant, not just know about it.

Around grades 3 to 5, kids are ready for more. They can measure, record, compare, and write down a guess about what will happen before they test it. In Eden’s Table that is the difference between my two grade bands: Sprouts (K-2) learns 36 plants by sight, smell and touch, and Seedlings (3-5) learns a different 36 with body systems, herb profiles and a hypothesis your child writes and then tests.

If you are wondering whether herbs belong in a Christian homeschool at all, I answer that in Is Herbalism Biblical?

Which herbs should we start with?

Pick plants that are easy to find, safe to handle and interesting to smell. A lot of them are already in your kitchen. Some of the plants in the Sprouts year:

• Lavender, the first plant of the Sprouts year.
• Peppermint and lemon balm, both easy to smell and easy to grow.
• Chamomile and calendula, pretty flowers that dry well.
• Rosemary, thyme and oregano, straight from the spice rack.

Dried herbs are fine. Buy them the way you would buy spices, from a source you trust. I keep a list of every herb in the curriculum with a place to order each one, and the scope and sequence shows which week each plant comes in.

What does a week of herb study look like?

Giving each day one job keeps it simple for you and gives your kids something to look forward to. This is the rhythm Eden’s Table uses, and you can borrow it even if you build your own lessons:

• Monday: read and talk. A read-aloud and discussion, and a Scripture memory verse. In Week 1 of Sprouts the verse is Psalm 139:14, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works” (NASB).
• Tuesday: look closely. Your child studies the plant up close, draws it and labels the parts.
• Wednesday: kitchen science. Measure, pour, watch and write down what happens. Use common kitchen ingredients you already have.
• Thursday: its story in the world. History, geography and art, all through the same plant. Where did it grow first? Who used it, and how?
• Friday: the garden and a review. Go outside, then look back at everything from the week.

Kitchen science is where kids light up. The first labs are quick: measure, pour, steep, taste. Later ones take patience. In week 9 of Sprouts your child meets marshmallow root, which does not give up its softness in hot water. The jar is filled with cool water in the morning and left alone, and hours later they come back, strain it, stir in honey and taste what waiting made.

How do I teach herbs if I don’t know much about them myself?

Learn right alongside your kids. Honestly, it is one of the best parts. You smell the leaf for the first time too.

If you want a plan instead of building it yourself, look for a curriculum where the read-aloud is scripted, the discussion questions are written, and the supply list is ready. That is how I wrote the Teacher’s Guide, so you open it on Monday morning and the week is already built. Nothing is left to research the night before.

How do I keep herb lessons safe?

• Stay right there for anything that goes in a cup or a mouth.
• Teach kids to ask before they pick, touch or taste any plant outside.
• Use dried herbs from a trusted source rather than guessing at wild plants.
• If your child has allergies or a health condition, check with your child’s doctor first.

Keeping the focus on knowing the plant (its name, look, smell, story and how families have cooked with it) keeps things age-appropriate for little ones.

Can I teach herbs to kids of different ages at the same time?

Yes, and it works better than most subjects. Everyone can smell the same leaf. In Eden’s Table every lesson is written at two depths, so a younger and an older child work the same week at one table, and the older child simply goes further: a longer notebook entry, a more careful drawing, harder questions.

Not sure where to start? Children in K-2 start with Sprouts. Kids in grades 3-5 who are new to herbs start with Sprouts too, because those are the plants Seedlings builds on. Kids in grades 3-5 who already know the basics can go straight to Seedlings. If you have kids in both, teach Sprouts to everyone together, then Seedlings the next year. The grade pages, from kindergarten to fifth grade, walk through it.

Where can I get a free herb lesson to try?

Week 1 of Eden’s Table is free, for Sprouts (K-2, on lavender) or Seedlings (3-5, on elderberry). It is five full lessons, the same pages families teach from all year, and you can print it and teach it the same morning.

If it fits your family, the first nine weeks are a $39 download (Sprouts or Seedlings), and the whole 36-week year in print is $249 plus $12 shipping.

Using an ESA or scholarship? Eden’s Table is an approved or registered vendor in seven programs, and the ESA page shows how buying works in each state.