We have been growing indoors for the last couple of weeks and have produced the grass heads shown above. They have been great fun and are an easy introduction to children’s gardening.
The recipe is as follows:-
1 pot – ours was a paper pot from Sainsbury’s gardening section.
1 empty egg shell – cracked carefully and as close to the top as possible.
Grass seed.
Potting compost.
Water.
Craft eyes from the local art shop.
Red sticky back felt.
The pot and eggshell were decorated first and then filled with compost. The grass seeds were added on top of the soil and the soil kept wet. They then lived on the kitchen window sill and were lovingly watered and handled everyday. Not too much though as otherwise the pot went soggy and the eggshell easily overflowed. The grass seeds took about 10 days to germinate and about another 2 weeks before they needed a trim.
You can, of course use cress or chives which have the advantage of being edible. We are going to keep these going for as long as possible. There was great delight today when they had a haircut. It made we wonder whether I had a budding gardener or hairdresser on my hands, but I suppose it is all about life skills.
Our shop has some great gifts that will help inspire you and your children to get growing in the garden.
Hi there, I've just discovered your blog (thru Juliet Robinson's "Im a teacher get me outside of here" and I'm so glad I did. I teach at a preschool in Australia and we are really getting into gardening with kids so I look forward to going back over your posts.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you. There's lots happening with kids and gardening in the UK, Especially with grow your own veggies and linking that to healthy eating.
ReplyDeleteLynda
Hi Lynda, As it just so happens we've connected with you through Jenny from "LET THE CHILDREN PLAY" ( actually that's her ... just above you here!) Like Jenny we teach kindergarten in Australia ( we're in Melbourne and she's in Sydney ) and are really looking forward to exploring your blog and staying in touch ... oh and those grass heads are so great. My son (who's now 23) made one in kindergarten and we managed to keep it alive for six months ... 'he' was practically one of the family! Cheers! :) :)
ReplyDeleteHi Lynda, love the grass heads! Great idea! p, xx
ReplyDeleteWelcome Sherry and Donna and thanks for the comments. Good to know that grass heads are old favorites. The children in the UK do quite a lot of growing at school. But I believe that it is also important to do some of these things at home as well so they don't get labelled as a school projects. Looking foward to learning what happening in Australian Schools.
ReplyDelete