Tuesday 6 April 2010

Easter Holiday Ideas part 1 - Terrarium

I thought I would do a daily post of ideas to keep the kiddies busy.  I am hoping to do this every day for 5 days but we will see if that will happen with 3 kiddies in the house all at once for the next couple of weeks.

Yesterday the eldest sweetpea and me made a Terrarium.  I was reminded of these fascinating mini gardens by Ryan on his blog Ryan's Garden.  Oh how it reminded me of my childhood when I saw it - they used to be so fashionable in the 80s!

My son has always had a thing about the Venus Fly Trap plants so was really excited when I told him about this idea.

You will need:

1 glass jar - I used a large coffee jar.
Some gravel.
Soil - we used the soul that came with the Venus Fly Trap plant as it was in a deep pot so had loads of soil.
Some moss to pop around the plant (this is optional).
A spoon to help pop everything in the little jar.


Get a jar and give it a good clean to make sure everything that was in it is now gone otherwise it will go mouldy in a few weeks.

Pop the gravel in the bottom of the jar.

Pick a plant that enjoys tropical conditions and then pop that in.  You will most probably need to take some soil away due to the small space in the jar.  Keep this soil to one side for filling in around the edges.


Place the plant in the centre and press in with a spoon or stick.  We did try just our fingers but the job was just too fiddly for that.



Once it is pressed in pop the moss around it and press down gently.

Give it a little water and wipe around the inside of the glass so it is clean and then close the lid.  If it steams up them just open the lid to release the moisture from it.  If it is a Venus Fly trap you have used then make sure you leave it open so it gets food (flys).

You will to keep the jar in a window that doesn't get direct sunlight.


Thanks Ryan for the inspiration!

I hope you all had a fab fab Easter, I worked one of the days and my hubby worked another one of the days so we are having a belated Easter break together now :-)

8 comments:

  1. It looks great, and is a fun way of keeping the kids amused over the holidays.

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  2. I remember making these in the 80's too :)

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  3. What a great idea for your children. I can't wait to see the projects you guys do during your holiday. Your son will love his little indoor garden. I hope you had a wonderful Easter.
    hugs

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  4. What a fantastic idea for the holidays! I might have to get busy with one...yours is adorable!

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  5. What a fun idea. Sadly my two seem to be too old to be interested in such things now :(

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  6. I thought I left a comment but it has gone! I think this is a great idea! I used to have a 'bottle garden' a couple of decades ago but it was quite huge!!! I love this mini garden in a jar. x

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  7. i have always been fascinated with these...great foryour your kids to experience.

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  8. Glad you all loved the retro mini garden, I hope some of you give it a go soon :-)

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Thank you for spending the time leaving a comment, it really does make me smile :-)