Family Herb Corner
Just for Kids
DESIGN SPROUT ART GARDENS
Did you know that you can draw a picture with seeds? When the seeds sprout, they will grow in the shape of your drawing.
Here's How:
Get some sprout seeds like alfalfa, broccoli, lentils, wheat, or radish. You can usually find
these at a natural food store.
Get a small flat tray. Containers that take-out sushi comes in are ideal. Any other flat-bottomed container will work.
Line your tray with 4 or 5 layers of paper towels.
Draw a design on the paper towel. You can use a fine point Sharpie® or a soft-leaded pencil.* Or you can draw the outline of your design on paper, cut it out, and lay the design on top of the paper towels. Or you can use all three methods. The photos show a fish drawn on paper towels with a Sharpie®, a stick figure drawn with a pencil, and a cut-out tulip placed on the paper towels.
 Sprout art drawing done with a fine point Sharpie® |
 Sprout art drawing done in pencil |
 Sprout art drawing done with a cutout |
Now wet the paper towels with tap water. Really make them wet so that the all the layers absorb the water. Then pour off the extra water.
Carefully place the seeds along the outline of your drawing. Use fine-pointed tweezers to evenly distribute the large seeds and a small measuring spoon to evenly distribute the small seeds. Big lentil seeds were put on the drawing of the fish with tweezers. Smaller seeds were used for the other drawings and were put on with a small measuring spoon.
 Putting small seeds on the drawing with a measuring spoon |
 Finished seed drawing |
 Finished seed drawing |
If you are really artistic and have a steady hand, you can try drawing your picture on the paper towels with the seeds. You wouldn't have to make the design with a Sharpie®, pencil or cut-out first.
If you drop some of the seeds on the paper towel outside your drawing, just carefully move them to the outline of the drawing with your finger or the small measuring spoon.
* To Parents: If you are concerned about the solvents in Sharpie® ink being absorbed by the sprout roots, I was also. So I checked Sanford's website and found the Material Safety Data Sheet for the fine point Sharpie®. The solvent ingredients are non-toxic alcohols and are in such small amounts that any chemical effect is probably insignificant. What about pencil "lead"? It's composed of clay and graphite, which is a form of carbon. If you really don't like the idea of food plants growing on ink or pencil marks, have your kids make a cut-out drawing for their design. – M. Jane Toth
Sprout Art Gardens Continued...
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