Make a Terrarium Ornament with Kids

Looking for a special Christmas gift for a gardener or nature lover? Do you know someone who likes miniature gardens or terrariums? Making a terrarium ornament would be the perfect gift for them. The open air glass orbs make fantastic ornaments and they also will look great after Christmas. Hang them from the ceiling or sit them on a shelf. I get commissions for purchases made through the affiliate links in this post.

Make a Terrarium Ornament with Kids

My mother in law is a master gardener. Currently she is into making terrariums. She designs the cutest ones. My favorite is this one with Groot.

A post shared by Trisha (@inspire_labs) on Jul 7, 2017 at 6:44pm PDT

I knew she would love a little terrarium ornament for Christmas. Each of my kids made a a personalized ornament for her. Actually, we took the supplies with us for our visit on Thanksgiving. My in-laws winter in Florida, so we celebrated Christmas early with them.

Part of their Gram’s present was making a terrarium ornament with her. Aiden and Lily helped me select what they wanted to put in their ornaments. They chose moss, sea glass (which we forgot at home), Safari Ltd Good Luck Minis, jingle bells, and succulents. I also chose a miniature train for Elon.

I ordered a 4-pack of glass hanging air orbs terrariums from Amazon. We picked up the succulents and some soil for them at Lowe’s. The sea glass came from Hobby Lobby. The rest of the supplies were from Michael’s. They have a nice selection of the Safari Ltd Good Luck Minis. The kids chose the Wild American Fun pack which includes a bald eagle, a moose, a black bear, a bison, a crocodile, a bat, a wolf, and a bee. They added one or two animals to each ornament.

Gram got three of the terrarium ornaments. I saved the last one for my tree. Kids can help makes these but do remind them the ornaments are glass. Adult supervision and help is needed. We started by adding soil to the glass orbs – enough to cover the plant roots (just a few tablespoons).

Next, we covered the soil with moss and lichen.

I added sea glass to mine. (The kids didn’t have that option since we forgot it.) The red sea glass is a mountain and the blue sea glass is a lake.

Then, we added the animals and trains. Finally we added jingle bells here and there. The succulents will need watered every once in a while. You can use a spray bottle. I actually use a pipette to add water directly to the soil.

Aiden put together the ornament below. He chose a bald eagle and a wolf as his features.

My mother in law helped Lily create the ornament below. Lily chose a black bear and a bison. They also added a train car.

I made the third ornament for Elon. He just watched and grabbed some of the animals. I wanted the train to be the centerpiece for his. I also added a bee.

I kept the last ornament for my tree. I like how the sea glass adds to the landscape. The moose fits perfectly.

After Christmas, you can take out the jingle bells and continue enjoying the terrarium all year. Hang it from the season or display it on a shelf. Don’t forget to water it every once in a while.

More Christmas Ornaments for Kids

• White Clay Leaf Print Ornaments – make a batch of white clay (or use store bought air dry clay) and press leaves and pine needles into the clay.
• Tie Dye Christmas Ornaments (sponsored) – use Sharpie and alcohol or washable markers and water to make color ornaments
• Christmas Ornament Glyph – Practice following directions and make a secret code ornament. If you know the code, you can figure out who the owner of the ornament is. This ornament is designed as a full page but you can print them 4 to a page and they make the perfect size ornaments for the tree.

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