Food Your Children Can Grow Inside

It’s great for children to learn to grow their own food. It gives them something to be proud of and encourages them to eat their fruit and veg more – they’re more likely to eat it if they’ve grown it themselves! We often think that food has to be grown outside in the ground which can prevent some of us from even looking at what food we could grow. However, there are some foods that you can grow inside too! Perfect if your home doesn’t have a garden or if your garden is only small. There’s no need to miss out on the fun of growing your own food - we’ve created a list of which foods can be grown inside. Get the plant pots ready!

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are great to grow inside. You can put them in salads and sandwiches or use them for delicious homemade sauces. Growing tomato plants inside won’t produce big tomatoes, but it will produce some yummy small tomatoes that you can pick off and eat.

You don’t need a garden, but you do need a large window that often gets lots of sunshine coming through. To grow tomatoes, you’ll need a plant pot with drainage holes for the seeds and then a larger pot for when the plant starts to grow. Plant your seeds in soil and ensure it’s wet but not drenched, then keep your plant at a warm temperature to germinate (this should take around seven or more days). After this time, move the tomatoes to a location with plenty of sunlight and watch them grow!  

Cress

This is probably the easiest food to grow indoors as it requires no special equipment! All you need is a little pot (it doesn’t have to be a plant pot, you could use any pot you have around the house), cress seeds and cotton wool. Place the cotton wool in the pot, add the seeds and then water (but don’t drown the seeds). After seven days you should see your cress start to grow. 

Carrots

The tasty orange vegetables can be grown inside too, they require a little more space and soil than tomatoes but they still need plenty of sunlight, so a big window is still necessary. The soil for carrots should be wet but not soggy and germination of the seeds will take around two weeks, after that you and your child should see the start of your carrots! You’ll need a bigger plant pot too, so the carrots have room to grow. Cut your new carrots into carrot sticks and enjoy with sour cream dip! 

Lettuce

Lettuce is really easy to grow and is low maintenance too which is always a bonus! But that’s what makes it the perfect vegetable for children to grow inside. All you’ll need to grow your lettuce is a medium-sized pot, some lettuce seeds, a plastic bag, soil and some water. Make sure the pot and the bag have holes in them so that the water can drain through if it needs to. Add some soil, sprinkle the seeds over add a little more soil and then spritz with water. Germination will take between one and two weeks. The lettuce should be kept cool, but it also needs plenty of sunlight too. 

You can buy vegetable seeds from most garden stores for a great price. Plant pots are available from most places – you only need basic ones. We recommend you get a large tray to put your pots in to catch any soil or water.

Encourage your children to look after their vegetables on their own, it teaches them about responsibility and routine – but it also allows them to see the food process from start to finish. 

If you enjoyed this article and found it to be useful, you can check out more of our early childcare resources in our Family Resource Zone!

And, if you’re not yet a Bright Horizons parent, but are interested in what our nurseries can offer your child on their exciting educational journey, book a personal tour at your local nursery today!