A Family Guide to Terrariums for Kids: Imagination-inspiring Projects to Grow a World in Glass – Build a mini ecosystem!

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Design, plant, and grow a world of your very own—inside a terrarium! Including 15 unique, imagination-inspiring project plans, each accompanied by adorable, full-color photographs, kids and their grown-ups will discover how easy terrariums are to plant and grow. 

*As featured in The New York Times*

Kids love to create, imagine, and have fun. Nothing fulfills all three of those desires quite like designing and planting a terrarium. With the step-by-step project instructions found in A Family Guide to Terrariums for Kids, the results are beautiful, inspiring, and confidence-building. Making these little landscapes develops motor skills, spacial awareness, and provides a wealth of sensory input. The science behind the art is included with quick and simple lessons on ecosystem functions, the water cycle, and plant nutrition. But for kids, it’s all about being active and building something cool! Plus, when the project is complete, there’s a piece of living art to share with family and friends or display on a bedroom shelf.

With the terrarium plans found in A Family Guide to Terrariums for Kids, everyone in the family can tap their inner “science geek” to:

Use multi-colored sand and succulents to craft a desert terrariumPlant, trim, and tend a terrarium bonsai treeBuild a peat bog filled with carnivorous plantsMake an aquatic terrarium, complete with a marimo moss ball “pet”Design a prehistoric garden of air plantsCreate a plant-filled habitat for a praying mantisGrow a Japanese garden with living rocks

With information on selecting the best terrarium container, growing materials, decorative elements, tools, and plants, readers are primed for success that lasts long after the terrarium has been built. Terrariums combine imagination and creativity with a dash of hands-on science. And you get to play in the dirt! What could be better than that?

From the Publisher

SECTION 1: PARTS OF A TERRARIUM

Picking the right container

The container you choose for your plants will contribute to the longterm success of your terrarium. There are many styles to choose from: tall or short, round or square, lid or no lid. Before you choose your container consider the types of plants you want to use. The type of container you pick will depend on the plants’ needs.

Preparing your container for planting

In order to prepare your new terrarium, it’s important to choose the right growing medium for your plants. It can make the difference between a successful terrarium with lush plant growth or dead plants! In this chapter I will discuss the different substrate options and when and how to use them. We will also talk a little about decorative elements that you can add to personalize your terrarium.

The best plants for terrariums

Making a terrarium starts with planning and choosing the types of plants you want to keep. The good news is there are lots of plant options from which to choose. Many of these grow well together in the same container. Making a plant list is a great way to start. Using a piece of paper and the plant lists in this chapter, write the name of the plant you would like to use in one column; in another column, write the conditions that plant likes to live in.

You will notice that some of the plants on your list like to live in the same conditions and will therefore grow well together. Once you have completed your list, you can get started by purchasing the plants and materials you will need.

How to take care of your terrarium

How do I water my terrarium? Do I need to feed my plants? How can I keep my plants looking their best? What do I do if I see a bug in my terrarium?

All living plants go through a cycle of life. Baby leaves mature into adult leaves, and, after a time, old leaves start to turn brown and drop off a plant. New growth soon emerges from the stem and the cycle repeats itself as your plant grows. A few yellow or brown leaves here and there is normal and nothing to worry about. But there are several things you can do to keep your terrarium looking its best. In this chapter, I’ll discuss what those things are and the tools to use to take care of your terrarium.

Pet Marimo Moss Ball Aquarium

They’re so fuzzy and cute, just like having a tiny aquatic pet! Marimo moss balls (Aegagropila linnaei) are very easy to care for and a lot of fun too. Even though they’re called moss, in reality they are a rare type of freshwater algae that naturally grows in the shape of a ball. They live a long time and grow very slowly. But when a moss ball does grow up, it can reach up to 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) in diameter!

Japanese Garden with Living Rocks

Lithops are called “Living Rocks” for a good reason. Where they grow in the wild, they look very much like stones on the ground. In fact, their camouflage is so good many people don’t even see them as they walk by. But if you look closely, you will discover this little succulent plant comes in a wide variety of pretty colors and patterns. They also flower once a year, and the blooms are dazzling!

Dinosaur Bones Diorama Terrarium

In this project we will create a miniature dinosaur fossil diorama much like the giant ones you see in museums. Whenever I go to the science museum near my home, I like to look at the giant displays of dinosaur skeletons and think about what it must have been like on Earth at that time. I imagine lots of tropical plants, flying insects the size of birds, and, of course, the dinosaurs. That is the inspiration for the design behind this project.

Closed Jungle Ecosystem with Tropical Plants

Using miniature tropical plants in a terrarium gives you the widest range of shapes and leaf patterns to choose from. Best of all, tropical plants seem to be made for terrarium life. They come from rainforests and jungles where they grow on the forest floor, which is a shady and humid environment. It’s easy to replicate those conditions within a covered glass jar placed in a bright room but away from direct sunlight. This project gives you some freedom in your choice of plants because you can either use the same ones listed or pick ones you like. Most plant nurseries carry what they call “fairy garden plants” or “miniature tropical plants” in 2-inch (5.1 cm) pots and will have a variety to choose from.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cool Springs Press (Sept. 15 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 112 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0760367345
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0760367346
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 363 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 19.05 x 1.65 x 23.37 cm

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