Making a Grass Head – the ideal activity to get kids growing.
If you have young children or grandchildren it can be hard to keep them occupied on a rainy day, and even harder to do it on a budget. Seeds By Post (http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk/) are here to help with the seeds for kids range.
Making a grass head is an easy and cheap way of keeping a child occupied for a few hours, and will promote gardening, creativity and natural science. Simply follow the steps below and get making!
You will need:
- The legs off a pair of old tights, stockings or a popsock.
- A packet of grass seeds (our cat grass is ideal as it is cheap, trim-able and fast growing, although cress or mustard seeds would also work well).
- Soil or compost, from your own garden. (Fine sawdust can be mixed in to create a bulkier mix.)
- Elastic bands.
- Wobbly eyes or buttons.
- Red thread or wool for a mouth, and a blunt needle.
- Pour two tablespoons of grass seeds into the toe of your sock.
- Add a few trowel-fulls of compost or soil.
- When the sock is quite full, tie the end securely and pull tight, creating a sturdy but malleable ball.
- Turn the ball over so that the grass seeds are at the top. Use fingers to spread the grass seeds evenly under the fabric, so that they cover the top of the ball.
- Twist a lump of soil at the front of the ball to create a nose. Tie this off with an elastic band. Repeat this technique on each side of the face to create ears.
- Sew on your buttons or glue on your googly eyes above the nose. Make sure any glue used is not water soluble as it will disintegrate over time. Stitch the mouth carefully, (adults).
- The tied-off end of the sock should now be dangling at the bottom of your grass head, this will help aid water absorption for your grass seeds. Place each grass head into an old cup or watertight plant pot. Use hands to mould each grass head to sit in the neck of a pot, and part fill with water. Make sure that the tied end of the fabric reaches well into the water.
- Sit the new grass heads on a sunny windowsill, keep watered and protect from frost.
Children of all ages will enjoy making their own fun faces and adding their own touch to each grass head. Watering them, waiting for the grass seed ‘hair’ to grow and then being able to give their new friend a haircut will keep them occupied for many afternoons to come.
Why not look in craft and art shops for different accessory ideas, or try making different creatures by splitting the stocking into different sections. Simply use the elastic bands to split the main ball into different shapes.
Seeds By Post (http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk/) stock many different seeds for kids, simply check out our pages for more children’s gardening ideas.
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