Great Kids Indoor Gardening Projects

Kids are naturally curious about the world around them. Gardening is a great way for kids to learn about nature, ask questions, and learn how to find out answers. In a world where many people desire instant gratification, growing a garden will teach children patience and that hard work does have rewards.

Children will also be able to learn about the environment by gardening. They will begin to understand about ecosystems and how everything has it's place and purpose. They will be able to learn about beneficial bugs as well as bugs that are harmful and how to attract the good ones and discourage the bad ones.

By growing their own vegetables, kids can also learn about nutrition. Many children will not touch certain foods when presented to them at dinner time, but will gladly eat peas, beans and other veggies right from the garden.

There are lots of fun ways to introduce the children in your life to gardening. One of the easiest ways is by starting seeds indoors. The wonderful part about indoor gardening is that it can be done before it's warm enough to plant seeds outdoors.

Here are just a few indoor garden projects kids will love.

Egg Shell Seedlings

The next time you work your way through a dozen eggs, wash out the shells and save them in the carton. Egg shells make wonderful containers to start seeds. Starting with clean egg shells, poke a drainage hole in the bottom of the shell with a straight pin or other sharp implement.

Set the empty shells in to their egg carton and fill each one with potting soil and compact it slightly. Plant 2 seeds in each egg shell and water. Place in a sunny spot, like in a window sill and wait for the seeds to sprout. Check your seed packet for germination time. Some seeds will take a couple of days, and some will take much longer.

Keep your seedlings moist, but not too wet. When it's warm enough to plant the plants outside, harden them off by placing them outside for an hour the first day, 2 hours the second day, 4 hours the 3^rd day and 8 hours the 4^th day. The little plants are then read to be planted in the ground.

One of the great things about starting seeds in egg shells is the beneficial effect the shells have on the soil. Simply crack the shell, keeping the plant and roots together, and place the whole thing right into the ground. The cracked shell will allow the roots to continue to grow and get water from the surrounding soil. The cracked egg shells will decompose, adding beneficial calcium to the soil.

Easter Grass

About a week before Easter, your child can grow a basket of real Easter grass. You can either grow the grass directly in the basket by lining it with plastic wrap, or you can find a container that will fit nicely in your basket and start the grass in it, moving the whole thing into the basket when you are ready.

Find a suitable container, whole wheat (found in the health food section of your grocery store), vermiculite (found at your local nursery or home store) and plastic wrap or a clear plastic bag. Fill your container with at least 2 inches of vermiculite. Sprinkle the whole wheat berries on the top and water until the seed bed is damp. Cover the container with a plastic bag or plastic wrap. This will keep the seeds moist while they are germinating. After two days, remove the plastic and make sure the container is in a sunny location. The wheat should begin to germinate about 2 days later. It will quickly grow, creating a fun, tall, green grass.

It's fun to experiment with all kinds of different containers and put little patches of grass through out the house for a fun Spring time decoration. Other creative containers might include tin cans (well washed), jam jars, fun ceramics from a second hand store, or even an egg shell.

Peat Pellets

Peat pellets can be found at your local nursery or home store and are excellent for starting seeds indoors. One of the fun things about these little pellets is the way they expand and grow when placed in water. This will be especially fun for kids.

Jiffy is the main manufacturer expandable peat pellets which are about the size of an Oreo cookie. Simply place one of the pellets in a cup of water. Then sit back and watch. Within about 2 minutes, the peat pellet will expand into a self-contained planting medium. You can set your expanded peat pellets into a shallow container which will make watering from the bottom (the best way to water seedlings) much easier.

Poke your seeds down into the peat according to the depth requirements on the seed packet. Cover your seedlings with plastic to keep them moist, then remove the plastic and keep in a sunny area after the seeds have germinated and sprouted their first leaves.

Plants in peat pellets can be planted directly into the ground, which makes it even easier for little kids to handle. Make sure to harden off your plants before transplanting them.