35+ Indoor Gardening Activities From Potted Plants to Personal Paradises

I recommend introducing your kids to gardening from a young age to help them develop a life-long love for plants and an ability to care for and nurture them.

A Chinese proverb comes to my mind, “Life begins the day you start a garden,” 🍀 which I wholeheartedly agree with, as gardening can help our kids become closer to nature, improve their mood levels, learn to nurture and care for and understand the value of hard work, among other things.

Indoor Gardening Activities for Your Kids

The good news is that you will not require a lot of outdoor space and can do these activities from within the comforts of your home 🏡 to keep them occupied and engaged.

These gardening activities are simple and fun to do with your kids and might pave the way for them to develop a green thumb.

In this blog post, I have included a list of gardening-related activities you can do indoors with your kids.

Plant Seeds

The first step to getting your kids into gardening is to plant the seeds 🌱 that will eventually grow into the plants you want.

Start by involving your kids in planting seeds of their choice in the soil. The most important part starts after this – they learn to nurture and care for the seeds they sow and wait patiently to watch them grow into a plant.

Pro Tip:

Teach your kids to water their seeds regularly to instill a sense of responsibility towards their plants.

Make Seed Bombs

I must say that these seed bombs 🌱💣 are so simple to make and are great gifting options for your family and friends.

Let your kids soak papers in water, squeeze excess water, and make the balls. They can mix the seeds in these paper balls and scatter them in the pots to watch them grow into healthy plants.

Pro Tip:

I sometimes add natural dyes to make seed bombs in different colors.

Grow Microgreens and Herbs 

I recommend planting and growing microgreens and herbs 🌿 as the perfect way to introduce your kids to gardening – they are hassle-free and easy to grow.

You can find the seeds of microgreens and herbs you want, like basil, cilantro, mint, thyme, oregano, edible flowers, fenugreek, etc. Plant them in containers with drains and leave them near the kitchen windowsill with adequate sunlight.

We love incorporating our homegrown microgreens and herbs into the dishes we cook.

Make Seed Starters with Egg Cartons

I found empty styrofoam egg 🥚 cartons were perfect for starting seeds in – easy and fun for your kids to do, too.

You can poke holes in the bottom of each of the egg cavities. Then, fill them with soil, and your kids can plant seeds of their choice in them. 

Pro Tip:

I suggest you also cover the egg cartons with a plastic cover for a greenhouse-like atmosphere.

Make Seed Starters with Eggshells

After cracking eggs, you can save the eggshells 🥚 and repurpose them into seed starters, as we did.

Collect a few eggshells and clean them well. Get your kids to add soil inside the shells, and add small saplings or seeds to make your own seed starters to be transferred to bigger pots later.

Try a Seed Germination Experiment 

If you’re looking to teach your kids about the germination process in a simple way, I recommend you make a simple seed jar.

You can take a jar, add tissues to the bottom of it, and dampen the tissues with water. Place a few seeds toward the outside edges for them to be seen. 

Let your kids observe the changes regularly to witness the various stages of the seeds transforming into a plant.

Reuse Kitchen Scraps

You can start your own indoor vegetable garden with the scraps collected from your kitchen, and your kids can watch them grow beautifully first-hand.

I suggest you save some of the everyday kitchen scraps 🥬🥕 and guide your kids to help you regrow these scraps of vegetables in a jar you have at home.

Suggestions for some vegetables and herbs you can regrow – potatoes, carrots, celery, basil, onions, garlic, lettuce, etc.

Create a Terrarium Garden

I found inspiration from a gardening blog to make terrariums – mini-gardens in a container, and my son enjoyed creating these beautiful terrarium gardens with me.

You can use any glass container 🫙 – a fishbowl, an aquarium, or a mason jar with a lid. Add stones, potting soil, and small plants of your choice to the container to curate your own terrarium garden. 

My son also added a few miniatures, shells, and cones to decorate them.

Pro Tip:

I recommend using mason jars when your kids are starting to make terrariums and then move on to fishbowls and larger containers.

Try a Water Absorption Experiment

You can demonstrate to your kids visually how plants absorb and move the water 💧 to the leaves with a fun and simple experiment. 

You can place stalks of celery in half-filled jars of water and add a few drops of food coloring to each of these jars. Let your kids observe the color changing of the celery stalk as time passes to show them that the water is being absorbed.

Create a Garden-themed Sensory Bin

I recommend you create a sensory bin 📤 for your kids to play with to nurture their senses, experience a sense of calmness, and encourage them to engage with different textures.

You can choose a tray and add soil, seeds, plant cuttings, vegetable scraps, playtoy gardening tools, small pots, fake plants, spray bottles, toy worms, and so on – you can add more things associated with gardening to create the sensory bin.

I found that my son enjoyed playing with the sensory bin, and it kept him engaged throughout.

Make Tissue Paper Flowers

“I must have flowers, always, and always.” – Claude Monet

You can create a beautiful garden in your home by making flowers 🌸 with tissue paper, a craft activity your kids will love like my son did.

You can find inspiration from craft blogs to make different variations of flowers with colored tissue papers and attach green colored pipe cleaners or skewers for the stems. 

Pro Tip:

You can place these tissue paper flowers in small painted pots with crumpled brown paper for the soil.

Watch Gardening Videos

Do you have kids who love learning things visually by watching? My son is like that, too, and learning about gardening through a visual medium helped him expand his knowledge.

You can pick animated and real-life gardening videos 📺 where people are tending to their gardens and nurturing their plants on YouTube for your kids to watch as a form of learning and entertainment.

Play a Seed Identification Game

I suggest you play this fun game with your kids so they learn how to identify 🔎 the seeds of different plants.

You can collect seeds of different flowers, plants, fruits, and vegetables and make a seed tray using an ice cube tray. You can let your kids try to guess their names and match them to the pictures of the plants with the help of hints you give.

Examine Various Seeds

After playing the seed identification game, you can let your kids look closely at the different types of seeds with magnifying glasses.

You can let your kids take a closer look 🔍 at the seeds of different plants in a magnified state. I suggest getting your kids to describe the various seeds, feel their textures, and identify their similarities and differences.

Pro Tip:

I made my son make a chart, where he glued the seeds and drew and labeled the plant the seeds belonged to.

Create a Paper Cup Greenhouse

I taught my son about greenhouses with this simple activity that resembles a mini greenhouse, trapping heat and moisture.

You can make these mini greenhouses with clear plastic cups. Let your kids fill 3/4th of the cup with soil and plant the seeds of choice. They can cover this set-up with another clear plastic paper cup or a plastic lid, like a greenhouse, and watch their plants grow. 

Pro Tip:

I recommend you use tape to hold both the plastic cups in place.

Make a Watering Can 

You can make a watering 💧 can at home with your kids for watering your plants as a simple DIY activity.

You can repurpose an old clean milk carton with a handle into a watering can by poking small holes in the lid of the can for the water to come through. I suggest you get your kids to decorate and paint the watering can using their creativity.

Paint Terracotta Pots

I guarantee your kids will love this fun art activity to paint 🎨 pots to put their plants in.

You can let your kids design and paint the terracotta pots with acrylic paints, using their creativity to add an artistic and personal touch to your home garden.

Complete a Word Search Puzzle

My son had a lot of fun looking for words to complete the word search puzzle 🧩 and learned new words.

You can print a word search template with words associated with gardening, with names of plants, flowers, tools, and so on, for your kids to find the hidden words to complete the word search puzzle.

Plant a Number Flower Garden

I used this fun activity to teach my son to count numbers 🔢 while letting him experience planting flowers. 

You can make flower outlines from paper and let your kids color them. Number each flower from 1-10 and glue them to skewers. You can get your kids to plant the paper flowers in a tray of soil according to the number you specify or in order of the numbers.

Plant an Alphabet Flower Garden

You can teach your kids the letters in the alphabet 🔡 and help them form words with this simple yet fun activity.

You can make flower outlines from paper and let your kids color them. Write the letters on each flower and attach them to skewers. You can get your kids to plant the paper flowers in a tray of soil according to the letter you specify or in alphabetical order.

Make Labels for Plants

I recommend you make some creative and fun labels 🏷️ with your kids as a craft activity to identify the plants in your indoor garden.

You can cut cards from thick paper for your kids to write the names of plants and decorate them. Glue these cards to ice cream sticks or skewers to place the labels in the soil, matching them with the plants.

Pro Tip:

Remove the labels before you water your plants to avoid ruining the paper.

Fill Coloring Sheets

My son enjoys nothing more than picking his crayons 🖍️ and colored pencils and coloring away.

You can print or draw outlines of elements associated with gardening for your kids to color them. You can include plants, seeds, flowers, fruits, vegetables, tools used, etc., along with their names labeled below.

I believe this activity helps them learn more about gardening while they color the outlines.

Paint on Stones

You can find stones with smooth surfaces for your kids to paint 🎨 on, which can be placed as decorations in potted plants and around your garden. 

My son enjoyed painting various colorful designs and patterns on these stones.

Make a Butterfly Feeder

Butterflies are also an integral part of the garden ecosystem, and I found a simple way to attract these butterflies 🦋 to our indoor garden.

You can make holes on the edges of a paper plate and tie strings of equal length to make the feeder – it must resemble an upside-down parachute. You can then get your kids to mash some over-ripe bananas and place them on the plate feeder to hang outside your window to attract butterflies.

My kids’ faces light up when they spot butterflies visiting our indoor garden.

Make Self-Portrait Pots

I assure you this activity will get your kids excited about growing plants in a fun way.

Print close-up face pictures 📷 of your kids and stick them to a disposable cup, with their faces lining the rim, without the hair. Your kids can grow a plant in that cup to, in a way, grow their hair. 

Conclusion

I am happy to report that doing these activities at home has helped my son fall in love with plants and gardening, and he enjoys helping me in the garden every day.

I hope you enjoyed reading the activities I compiled for your kids to try their hand at indoor gardening.

Please leave a comment below if you have any more ideas to share or any questions to ask – I would love to hear your thoughts. ❤️