Garden Project for Kids: Make a Toyrarium

A terrarium is a fun and simple garden project for kids. Add toys to your terrarium and you have a toyrarium – a terrarium that inspires play.

Garden Project for Kids: Make a Toyrarium

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Clear container
• Rocks
• Potting mix (get a mix that’s appropriate for the plants you choose)
• Plants (succulents are a good choice)
• Plastic toys

How to Create A Toyrarium

We made our first terrarium when Aiden was 3 years old. He’s been asking for a larger one ever since.

We used a clear plastic container (from the pet supply section), but you could also use a glass fish bowl or something similar. Because my son was going to be playing with it both outside and inside, I chose plastic over glass. Be sure to select plants that are safe for children to touch. I would avoid a cactus even though they look really cool. Succulents are a good choice because they don’t require a lot of care. Just water them every once in a while (depending on which plants you select.)

First, add a layer of rocks to the bottom of your container. This will help with soil drainage. Next, pour your potting mix on top of the rocks. These steps are great for kids. They can place the rocks one by one or drop them by the handful. Show your child how to scoop soil from the bag and add it to the container. Then, it’s time to add your toys. Aiden gathered some friends and props to play in the dirt.

Here’s a great opportunity to be creative. I let Aiden choose whatever toys he wanted (within reason). You could also select toys around a specific theme. Make a terrarium for dinosaurs or unicorns. Or create a barnyard or forest scene. It’s all about the props and plants you choose.

Next, plant the plants and added some water. I chose to leave plenty of exposed dirt for the toys to play. You could also cover the dirt with a layer of moss, lichen, or rocks (like we did with our terrarium ornaments).

Finally, it’s time to add the toys. Aiden got to work adding toys to the scene. The dragon, robot, and lion were chosen first. A ladder and water feature were also essential to his story.

Aiden loved every step of this garden project – from choosing the rocks to adding the dirt and plants to playing with the whole set up and, of course, spraying everything with water.

More Garden Projects for Kids

• Learn how to start a butterfly garden.
• Try these recycled container gardening ideas.
• Experiment with regrowing green onions.

Pair a Book with Your Garden Project

I love connecting books to science activities. This week’s Storybook Science themed is Science in the Garden. We’ll be sharing garden science activities inspired by books.

I chose Counting in the Garden by Kim Parker to go along with our terrarium project. Can you find the animals hiding on each page? Count them from one to ten. My kids had fun searching for each of the animals as we read the book. This book pairs well with creating play scenes in your toyrarium.

Check out all of the Storybook Science series here.

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This post was originally published on July 9, 2013