TickleMe Plants

Ever Grow The Plant That MOVES When You Tickle It?
Now you and your family can grow your own TickleMe Plants™! I have been growing TickleMe Plants™ with my sixth grade students and family for over 30 years. Imagine the amazement of your friends, family or students when your living TickleMe Plant™ closes its leaves and lowers its branches as you tickle it.

Materials:
TickleMe Plant™ Seeds
Flower pot or cup with hole on the bottom
Soil
Directions:
The day before you plant your seeds, soak them in warm water overnight.
Fill a flower pot or cup ¾ of the way with soil.
Plant three to five seeds by covering them with 1/8 inch of soil.
Water your seeds gently.
Place your newly planted seeds in a room that receives bright light or sunlight for part of the day.
Temperatures in the room should be above 70 degrees.
Water before the soil dries out.
That’s it! Your plants will begin to grow in less than a week.
The first two leaves will not be ticklish. In about three weeks, the second set of TickleMe Plant™ leaves will appear and they will move when you tickle them. TickleMe Plants™ are best grown as house plants and can even be placed in a bright location outside during the warmer months. They are frost sensitive, so be sure to bring them inside before the cold weather arrives. The sensitive plant seeds of the TickleMe Plant grow to produce beautiful pink cotton puff ball flowers.
TickleMe Plants™ can live for a year or more and grow to about one foot plus in height.

Native to Brazil, TickleMe Plants can be found growing wild there and in other tropical areas. The scientific name for the TickleMe Plant™ is Mimosa pudica. It also has been called shy grass, sensitive plant and other names throughout the world.
To learn about the natural history of the TickleMe Plant™ go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_plant

Don’t be surprised if you find yourself and your children developing a greater sensitivity to plants. When my students first tickle their plants, they often scream “It’s ALIVE!”
Even students that are sometimes hard to motivate, can’t wait to take home their pet TickleMe Plant™ to show off to their friends and family. I grew my first TickleMe Plant™ when I was 9 years old and I never looked at plants in the same way again, nor have I ever forgotten the experience. Neither will you!
To learn more about growing TickleMe Plants™ or to order seeds go to www.TickleMePlant.com
Seed packets start at $4.95, Growing Kits and TickleMe Plant Greenhouses with mini flower pots available.
TickleMe Plants can be found online, in science catalogs, at science museums, botanical gardens and toy and gift stores.

Mark Chipkin is a middle school Science Teacher and an Educational Project Director for the TickleMe Plant™ Company. He has sent hundreds of students home with their own Pet TickleMe Plants™.