Cress Heads
A fun and engaging way to develop children's interest in growing food.
You will need:
• Cress seeds
• Egg shells
• Cotton wool
•Craft items to decorate the shell
Making the activity:
1. Your child can decorate his/her own egg shells with faces or their own design.
2. Put cotton wool inside the egg shell, dampen with water and sprinkle with cress seeds.
3. Gently put the egg in an egg cup, or egg box, then place on an indoor window sill.
4. Watch to see the green hair grow on the egg head!
Why not use the homegrown cress in a salad or sandwich.
NEXT TIME - Observe how the seedlings grow towards the light. See what happens if you turn the cress heads around – which way will the seedlings grow?
How this supports knowledge and development:
Watching cress seeds transform into green shoots over a few days is a great way to start a love of gardening. Being able to grow food you can eat helps children develop an understanding of ‘seed to plate’ and the importance of water and light for healthy plant growth.
Cress sprouts so quickly! Children can observe the changes as the seed germinates from a little white shoot popping out of the seed, then growing roots and finally the green tips gradually turning into cress leaves. For young children observing this transformation from seed to plant is pure magic. As you harvest the cress look at the roots that have formed in the cotton wool.
Talk about these roots being like straws that the plant uses to suck up the water. Compare how a plant drinks water to how they drink water.
