This is a craft that the girls made at a local festival hosted by a greenhouse last year. Since then, they play with or talk about their moss gardens at least daily. Their moss gardens sit on our porch, so even when it’s raining, they can sit outside playing with them. They also regularly collect more things to add to each moss garden. To me, it’s a win-win all around.
Supplies needed:
- flat tray
- potting soil
- moss or other small plants
- small plastic animals
- rocks, glass beads, shells, pine cones, etc.
Start by having your child add an inch or two of potting soil to the bottom of their tray. Then they can begin adding the garden items, with the moss or other plants first.
The girls’ gardens originally had the moss, glass rocks, shells and plastic animals. They’ve since added pine cones, chestnuts and other pretty rocks they’ve collected on our walks.
We were told to spray the moss lightly with water every day. The girls did that for a few weeks. Now their moss is dried-out little patties that get rearranged regularly and have no roots. The mosses still provide some greenery for the “gardens.”
You could also probably do this with a larger plant pot (which your child could paint!) in which you put a few hearty plants that don’t mind being handled. We keep our moss gardens outdoors because the girls regularly spill the dirt (and sweep it up again). A larger pot might make it easier to bring the garden indoors as a “fairy garden” your child could play with year round.
Cost: $5-10, depending upon supplies used
Difficulty: easy (suitable for ages 2+)
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