This document provides several gardening project ideas for families with young children to enjoy together. It describes how to quickly grow cress or bean sprouts indoors using only paper towels or jars of water. Another suggestion is growing grass from seeds in empty eggshells, which children can decorate with googly eyes. By taking cuttings from houseplants or garden plants and rooting them in jars of water, kids can see how easy it is to start new plants. The document encourages families to use these simple projects as a fun way to introduce children to gardening.

1. Gardening for
the family

2. The whole family can
share the joy of
gardening. Entertain
your children with a
range of educational
activities that have been
developed, in
collaboration with the
RHS, for four- to seven-
year olds.

3. This is a great growing project for
very young children. You can grow
them any time of year. They
germinate really quickly and you
don’t need soil to grow them. Simply
sprinkle some cress seeds thinly on
to a double or triple layer of kitchen
paper in a shallow container and keep
damp. Place in a sealed polythene
bag and then into a dark place and
keep checking and watering. Once
they have grown to at least 1cm move
them onto a window sill. You should
be able to harvest within 10 to 12
days from sowing. Ideal for egg and
cress sandwiches

4. Children will be able to see quick results with
this project. Grow indoors in a jam jar or
specialist seed sprouter – these are not very
expensive and can be usually brought online the
same time as you buy seeds. Place a tablespoon
of seeds in a jam jar and cover with water. Cover
the jar with a piece of muslin or j cloth held on
with a rubber band and soak seeds overnight.
The seeds will swell a lot. Drain the water
through a sieve and rinse twice really well with
fresh water. Place the jar on its side in a warm
place away from sunlight. Rinse the seeds and
drain the water twice a day. Store in the fridge
and eat within 5 days.
Ideal for kids to grow are Broccoli Sprouting
Seeds which sprout within 3 to 4 days and
chinese bean sprouts (or mung beans) which
crop in 4 to 8 days. Fantastic in stir fries.

5. Growing cress or grass in
an empty egg shell is
always a favourite with
children. They may do this
at school or
nursery. However, there is
value repeating it with
them at home so they can
see that it is not just a
school-related
task. Children are never
too old to have fun with egg
heads

6. For a grass egghead use
empty egg shell – cracked carefully
and as close to the top as possible.
•Grass Seeds
Potting compost.
Water.
Craft eyes from the local art shop.
Decorate the eggshell fill with
compost. Add the grass seeds on
top of the soil and keep wet and
indoor in a sunny location. The
grass seeds take about 10 days to
germinate and it will be about
another 2 weeks before they
needed a trim.

7. You can demonstrate to your kids how easy it is to grow
new plants by taking a few cuttings of plants from a garden
or within the house and root them by placing them in a jam
jar or other clear container filled with water. Place in
daylight on a window sill and after a couple of weeks roots
should start to develop. Once a good root system has
developed pot the plants up and you have a new
plant. Those that will definitely root are ivy, annual
geraniums, and house plants: – Coleus, Begonia and
Wandering Jew. Experiment with others so your kids can
see which will work.
Gardening with your kids is fun and growing can be easy if
you know where to start. If you would like to have a go at
more traditional gardening projects for children then take a
look at the at our other gardening pages.

8. Start family
gardening
today!