As I was preparing for the summer, and for having my girls at home with me for most of the days, I made a long list of possible activities that would stretch me out of my comfort zone, but not take me so far as to break me.

In other words, I found some easy ideas for things to do with kids (mostly on Pinterest. Where else???).

One of the projects I was particularly excited about was making a terrarium. Strictly speaking, a terrarium is a self-contained eco-system that only requires occasional watering and access to sunlight in order to thrive. Terrariums are usually fuly enclosed. I wanted to make something a little more open, like the ones I swooned over here.

So, one weekend day I sent Tim on an errand to get some of the supplies we would need to make these totally swoon-worthy and surprisingly kid-friendly pseudo-terrariums.

Here’s what we got:

We headed to Walmart in the hopes of picking up everything. But our Walmart didn’t carry succulents, so we did have to make a separate trip to a nursery to find these. At Walmart we went to the pet section to get a pretty and simple fish bowl (very affordable at around $8) and some rocks designed for fish tanks. We also picked up some cactus soil. The succulents themselves were surprisingly expensive to me (keep in mind that I do absolutely ZERO gardening, so I truly have no concept of what plants cost). They were between $4 and $6 each. Since we purchased 5 different plants, that did drive the cost of this activity up a bit. As you will learn later, we didn’t need as much as we bought!

Ok, so the first step in how to make a terrarium is to put some dirt in the base of your fish bowl. This is a great task to give to your child.

Next, it is time to add your plants. And this is the part where I show you how I can find a way to screw up any and every project that involves any type of eye for design. Just look at how I’m winning already, folks.

Alrighty then! So we learned a few things right away: first, you may need to break up the roots of your plants quite a bit in order to get them to fit. Second, you may need another container for the beautiful and too tall plant your purchased. That’s cool…two terrariums are better than one, anyway!

Moving right along, please put the plants that will actually fit inside your container in there, and then add a little more dirt to help keep them secure.

Now it’s time to add the rocks!

One tip I have is to use a toothpick to get the rocks out of the small crevices in which they may have landed on the plants while being sprinkled all over the container.

Now sit back and admire your beautiful work. This is such a fun family project and the end result can be proudly displayed for months or with a little luck, even years to come.

 

And just in case you were wondering, here’s our bonus terrarium. Had to give up a vase to make it happen, but let’s be real: how often do I get flowers, anyway? Just sayin’!

 

Please let me know if you attempt to make a terrarium, too. I’d LOVE to see your final product! 

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