Building Terrariums

We are beginning a little project to get us outdoors and digging in the dirt. I want to start planting something, but the weather is not quite warm enough to start outdoors, and to be honest, I wanted something with immediate results. With older students, the anticipation of seeing the first sprout is one of the best parts of planting, but with the two year olds, I thought it would be nice nice to have a plant to take home the same day. I absolutely love terrariums. When they're finished I think they look like fairy woodlands in a jar. In fact, I have my eyes peeled for little toadstool houses to put inside to make them all the more magical. The first day of our project was all about collecting. I labelled plastic baggies with the words "dirt" and "moss". We first stopped at some pots I had planted in last year, and took out our shovels.

Using the shovels was a challenge at first, but they really got the hang of it.

 

Filling the baggies with dirt from a planter.

One by one the girls came up while I held their dirt bag (he, he, he) and shoveled some dirt in. Our next stop was a hill at the back of the property that is shady and mossy. we took out the other baggies and the girls just went to work ripping up some moss and putting it into their bags. It was a nice damp day, so once the moss was sealed inside it stayed alive and damp for the weekend. If it had been hotter, I would have added a little water. The next step is to assemble the dirt and moss along with some rocks and other plants into the glass jars next class. 

Grabbing moss and other things.

Bags were labelled, and we will hand out a set to each girl next week.

The way the moss peels away like a mini carpet is so much fun!

Can you believe we are in a school yard in Brooklyn?

This is my terrarium that I will use as an example. Everyone is bringing in a different jar or container so they will all be unique. I am thinking of doing this project with some of the older girls at school an using it to talk about the water cycle in French.