How to Plant a Sunflower Seed, for Kids!

Looking for a way to reuse your empty Sundown^® Kids supplement bottle or bottles? Try your hand at sunflower crafts! Flower crafts for preschoolers and older kids are a fun way to work together as a family and expose your child to the rewarding nature of taking care of a live plant, nurturing it as it blossoms. Here’s how to grow sunflowers for kids.

You’ll need:

• A packet of garden-variety sunflower seeds
• An empty Sundown^® Kids vitamins bottle
• Soil
• A spray bottle filled with water
• A few weeks down the line: a flowerpot

Instructions:

1.  Fill your Sundown^® Kids vitamins bottle almost to the top with damp soil.
2. Poke a finger into the soil, to make a hole or groove for the sunflower seed.
3. Drop the sunflower seed into the hole and cover it with a little soil.
4. Mist some water on top of the soil with your spray bottle.
5. Place your planted seed on a sunny windowsill. Spray the soil with water whenever it feels dry.
6. Expect to see your sunflower begin to emerge through the soil as soon as 1 to 2 weeks later!
7. When your sunflower begins growing too big for the vitamin container, you can transfer it to a bigger flower pot and relocate it outside where it’ll get lots of sunlight.
8. Your plant will begin to flower after about 8 weeks!
9. When the sunflower head starts to droop and turn brown, cut it off and hang it somewhere dry indoors, with plenty of air circulation. When the seeds are dry, rub them together to loosen them from the plant.
10. You can eat the seeds yourself (after you open the shells) or add them to a bird feeder for your feathered friends to enjoy!

Children love sunflower crafts, and the sense of fun and accomplishment that comes from nurturing a live plant. So have your kids test out their green thumb, and enjoy the fruits of their labor for weeks to come!