Indoor Gardening With Children

Even though it's cold and dark outside you can still use those green fingers with some indoor gardening projects over the Winter months. Children will love seeing their plants grow and they will also enjoy eating what they have grown. Here are a few ideas for some indoor gardening.

Cress Heads

These are very cute and easy to do. Simply take some broken eggshells and draw some funny faces on them - you can be as creative as you like! Then fill the eggshells with some damp cotton wool or kitchen roll and sprinkle them with cress seeds. The seeds will start to sprout in a few days giving your egg heads a full head of hair. Make sure you keen the cotton wool damp and when the cress is fully grown encourage your children to pick some and sprinkle on ham or egg sandwiches to give them a homegrown flavour.

 

 

Bulb In A Jam Jar

 

This is a great project for budding scientists or those who are curious about the natural world as you get to see exactly what happens when you plant a bulb. Get a large jam jar and fill halfway with soil or compost. Plant a bulb close to the edge of the jam jar and cover all around with soil but make sure you can see some of the bulb through the glass. Then keep your bulb watered and watch as it begins to shoot - you will be able to follow it's progress through the soil until the shoot pops out and hopefully you get a lovely flower. You can find a large range of Winter flowering bulbs at Suttons online garden centre.

 

Yogurt Pot Herb Garden

 

Herbs can be grown inside all year round and its great to have some in the kitchen to have on hand to add flavour and depth to your cooking. To make a pretty windowsill herb garden clean some old yogurt pots and paint in bright colours with a mixture of half poster paint and half pva glue. Once they are dry fill them with soil and sprinkle on the herb seeds. I think chives are quite a good choice as they grow quickly and mint is also fast growing and very useful. Keep your pots watered and watch your herbs grow. For some fantastic herb recipes you may want to visit the BBC food site!