For The Kids
Kids love to create and play. Here are some really fun projects for kids that are easy and creative too.
Hanging Basket Carrot
Great for a window garden!
Cut about 2 inches off of a Big, Thick carrot top. Break off
the green leaves. Make 3 holes about 1/2 inches from the cut edge with a thin
nail. Hollow out the center of the carrot with a sharp knife. Get help if
needed. Be very careful when hollowing out the carrot not to get too near the
outside. Tie 3 pieces of string in the nail holes, and hang your carrot basket
in the window. Keep the hollow part filled with water. Watch for leaves to
sprout from the upside-down carrot top. They will turn upward as they
grow!
Easter Basket Grass
Make this about two weeks before Easter!
Line your Easter basket with aluminum foil. Put in a layer of
pebbles on the bottom for good drainage. Add potting soil * up to 1 inch from
the top of the basket top. Plant grass seeds (or flowers or herb seeds if you
like). When your plants grow tall hide your Easter eggs and candy among them.
Happy Easter Egg Hunt!!
* If you don't want soil in your basket, put a layer of cotton
on the foil. Sprinkle seeds on. Keep cotton moist and the seeds will sprout!
Seeds On A Sponge
Watercress, beans, grass and sunflowers grow fast this
way
Soak the sponge in water and put it on a saucer. It is fun to
put the sponge on a plastic toy too such as a basket, egg or truck bed. Sprinkle
the seeds on top of the damp sponge. Press the seeds down gently so they will
be dampened. Keep the sponge moist. Check it everyday. When leaves start to grow
put the container in a sunny window.
Peanut Plant
Best grown in a warm area with plenty of
sunlight.
Soak peanuts that are bought in a health food store in water
overnight. Take the shells off carefully. Do not tear the brown covering that is
over the nut. Plant Virginia peanuts 10 inches apart 2 inches deep, plant
Spanish peanuts 5 inches apart, 2 inches deep in light, fluffy soil. Water well.
In about 2 weeks you should see the top growth of the plants. Flowers will
appear on the plants. When the flowers drop off, pegs develop. The pegs drop
into the soil to ripen. Keep your plants well-watered until 2 weeks before
harvest. In about 3 1/2 months your peanut plants will be ready to pick. Loosen
the soil around each plant. Pull up the plant and shake the dirt off the
peanuts. The peanuts will be on the vine. Put them in a warm, dry place out of
the sunlight for 2-3 weeks. Then pick the peanuts off the
vine.
To roast the peanuts in the shell turn the oven to 300 F. Put
the peanuts on a shallow baking pan like a cookie sheet with a thin layer of
cooking oil on it. Roast for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Take them out, cool
them a little bit then crack them open and eat them! Yummy!
Crystal Garden
These crystals grow like plants!
You will need an adult to help with the handling of the
chemicals in this project.
You will need:
2-3 charcoal briquettes
A throw away pan and bowl
1 cup water
1/4 cup salt
1/4 laundry bluing
1 tablespoon ammonia
Adult Help!
Put the briquettes in the pan. Mix the water, salt bluing and
ammonia in a bowl. Pour over the briquettes. Make sure some pieces of the
briquettes stick out of the solution. Within one hour crystals will form. Soon
they will cover the briquettes. But don't handle them they are
fragile!
Cuke in a bottle
Cukes are fast growers and they are just made for a kid's
garden! Let's try growing one in a bottle!!!
You need a 1 or 2 liter plastic soda pop bottle with holes
poked in it for air vents.
Start seedlings of cukes and when they have formed tiny cukes
insert them through the opening leaving them attached to the
vine.
Keep shaded so the tiny cukes don't cook from the
heat.
The cucumber will grow inside of the bottle
for...
CUKE IN A BOTTLE!!!