Create simple gardening experiences and show your child ways to recycle as well! Place the plants in shallow bowls in a sunny window. The varieties suggested below are fast-sprouting and hardy.

1. Egg Head
Take an egg and crack it open, making the crack nearer to one end. Swab out the shell. With a sewing needle, poke a drainage hole in the bottom end. Let your child draw a face with markers.

Set the shell in an egg carton or on a stand you've made out of sturdy paper. Place a damp cotton ball inside the egg. Sprinkle grass seed on top of the cotton ball. Within a few days, the grass will begin to grow. Eventually your child may want to give the egghead a "haircut!"

2. Sprouter Man
Take a clean glass jar, and place a moist, curled-up sponge in it. Place dried beans around the edges, between the sponge and the jar. Your child will be able to watch the roots growing down, as well as the sprout popping up!

Attach a piece of twine to the sponge, and tie or tack it up above the jar. The vine will grow up the string.

You can attach an action figure to the string, like a superhero version of Jack and the Beanstalk.

3. Boot Shoots
Take an old boot or high-top trainer. (A bright-coloured rubber rainboot works nicely.) Pack the shoe with potting soil and plant marigold seeds in it. Make a slit on the sole to allow for drainage, or poke some holes in the sole with a nail.

By: Karen Baicker
Illustration: Monica Gesue

• Raw egg
• Sewing Needle
• Cotton Wool
• Grass Seeds, Bean Sprout or similar
• glass jar, old shoe or anything else you want to plant in.
• Markers, glue, glitter, wool, felt (anything else for decoration)