Last spring was my first attempt at planting seeds in the ground. In the past, I’ve just bought mature plants from the garden store, dug some holes, and voila! But when Liv and I were reading a picture book about zinnias, my husband was inspired to pick up a packet of seeds for us. The results were amazing and so gratifying. This year, I’m not going out on a limb to say I’ll plant a full-fledged vegetable garden, but with the snow laying 2 feet deep outside, I thought we’d at least start a few plants indoors to see what happens. Maybe we’ll get to transplant them outside; maybe not. But if nothing else, we’ll be channeling spring via our kitchen window. Not to mention, this was a great activity for Olivia. We read Seeds! Seeds! Seeds! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace to help explain the process, and she’s been helping me water our seeds every morning. With any luck, her patience will be rewarded with some green sprouts in a few weeks. We’ve only made one terrarium so far but I think it’d be fun for Liv to plant several different kinds of seeds to see which ones “win.” Plus, several of these lined up would look nice on our window sill. Added bonus!
Window Sill Terrarium
Nap Rating = less than 1 nap (or if your child is old enough, do this with her/him!)
Tools & Materials
- 2 liter, clear plastic bottle
- scissors
- small pot (I used a Jiffy pot)
- small saucer
- potting soil
- seeds
- popsicle stick
- marker
Steps
- Peel the label from an empty 2-liter bottle.
- Cut the top off the bottle with scissors.
- Wash out the bottle.
- Fill the pot about 3/4 of the way with potting soil.
- Place a seed or two in the pot.
- Cover with more soil.
- Place pot on saucer, then water.
- Write seed name on popsicle stick and insert.
- Put the plastic bottle on top of the pot.
- Place in sunny spot and water frequently.
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