This simple activity will teach your toddler about growing food. Also soil isn’t needed which cuts down on mess and the cress starts growing within a few days so you’ll be to see results quickly. Once grown you can ‘harvest’ the cress, which goes great in egg sandwiches.
You’ll need:
- Cress seeds (can be bought from local supermarket or online e.g. here)
- Cotton wool balls or tissues
- An old egg box
- Some googley eyes and pens for decoration
- Water
- Cling film
- Scissors
What to do:
- Decorate the egg box, we coloured it in slightly and added googley eyes and smiles at the front to make faces.
- Dip a piece of cotton wool or tissue in water, press into a flat circle, then place in an egg holder. Repeat till box is full.
- Scatter the seeds thinly, trying to keep them on top of the cotton wool/tissue.
- Cover with cling film to keep in the moisture and place somewhere sunny (but not in direct sunlight).
- Water daily (preferably by spraying with water or dripping water into the cotton wool/tissue).
- After 5-7 days the cress should be ready to harvest by trimming the top off with scissors.
Decorating 
Adding the tissues 
Ready to grow
After 1 day 
After 2 days 
After 4 days
Hint and tips:
– We used tissues as didn’t have any cotton wool in the house but it worked just as well.
– Make sure the cotton wool or tissue is relatively flat and fills the bottom of each compartment in the egg box. You don’t want too many seeds falling underneath.
– You could also grow the cress in egg shells but that’s a bit more delicate.
– The seeds should germinate/grow 24-48 hours after sowing.
Recycle and Reimagine 