Have you ever tried planting real grass indoors? I do this with my Kindergarten class every year and it’s one of our most exciting projects. Seeing the first green grass of spring is always exciting. And to plant it yourself and watch it grow—that’s even better!

 The grass takes about 4 weeks to grow. We use these weeks to work on a few items to go in our little “gardens” too.

You will need to purchase the following at a garden centre:

• Potting mix –best soil for starting seeds
• Grass seed –any normal mix sold for outdoor lawns
• A plastic spray bottle for watering

I usually use aluminium foil pie tins to plant the grass in. (Remember to label each one with the child’s name.) Fill the tin with soil and press it down. Water it thoroughly before adding the seed. The soil will compress when wet—add more to fill the tin. Then sprinkle the grass seed on top and cover with a thin layer of soil. Spray with water until well moistened. Place the pan in a warm, well-lit location, a sunny window if possible. Keep it moist over the next days by spraying it daily with water. The seeds should germinate (sprout) within 4-6 days, but don’t give up if it takes longer.

Once your grass is up, it is important to give it enough light, at least 8-10 hours a day. If you don’t have a sunny window sill, place it under fluorescent lights. After two weeks the grass should be an inch or two high. At this point the children can help to trim it with scissors. This will make it grow thicker.

Now it’s ready to turn into a garden! The children will enjoy finding things to hide in the grass, pretty pebbles or the first flowers, or a little plastic animal.

A bunny for your grass garden

Here is an idea for making a bunny or other small creature for your garden.

Pebble bunny or mouse*
You will need:
A smooth round pebble
A tiny ball of cotton for a tail
A small square of paper or felt for the ears
A permanent marker
Glue and scissors

Find your pebble and make sure it’s clean. If you like, get several pebbles of different sizes and make a whole family of bunnies or mice! If you have poster paint, you may want to paint them first, but the natural colours will also be nice. Ladybugs are fun to make if you have red paint, or try a green turtle. You could also paint one yellow and add a head, tail and wings out of orange paper to make a chick or duckling.

Bunny ears:
Fold a 2” square paper (white or grey to match the pebble) in half and again in half lengthwise. Cut half an ear shape on the fold to make two matching ears. Smudge a bit of pink chalk for the inside of the ears. Pinch ends slightly together and glue on either side of the more pointed end of the pebble. Felt or cloth can also be used for making ears.

Eyes, nose, mouth, whiskers:
Use a permanent marker to draw the features.
For ladybugs and turtles, cut legs out of felt or paper and glue them on the bottom.

Tail:
Roll a ball of cotton wool, tissue paper or raveled yarn for a tail and glue it on the end. (Or use a tiny pompom.)
Now your bunny is ready to sit in the grass, or moss garden. If you’d like to make several bunnies for party favours, glue the bunny to a paper base.

*If you can’t find suitable pebbles where you live...try using Pom-Poms. Most craft stores sell small coloured pom-poms and feathers, possibly “wiggly-eyes” too, and craft glue to stick them together. See what you can create!

 

Contributed by an early years teacher.