Reuniting Kids w/ Nature - Seed Bombs

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MATERIALS:
2 cups potting soil
5 cups pottery clay mix from your local art store
1-2 cups water
1-2 cups seeds of your choice (local wildflowers are a good start)
Large tub to mix ingredients
Large box to dry and store seed balls

TIME FRAME:
1 hour + 1-2 weeks drying time



PROCEDURE:

1. Mix the soil, clay and 1 cup water thoroughly. There should be no lumps. Slowly add more water until the mixture is the consistency of Play Doh.
2. Add seeds. Keep kneading the dough until the seeds are well mixed in, only adding more water if necessary.
3. Take small bits of the clay mixture and roll into ball about one inch in diameter. If the balls are crumbly, add more water (they should hold together easily).
4. Place your seed balls in a cardboard box and allow seed balls to dry for 24-48 hours in a shady place before sowing or storing.
5. The last step in how to make flower seed balls is sowing them. You can place the carefully over the area to be planted or you can gently toss them one at a time which is a lot more fun. There’s no need to bury or water them. Nature will do the work for you.

CONNECTIONS & REFLECTIONS: 
Where can you place your seed bombs once they’re ready?  Will you find a place you’re familiar with or will you somewhere you’ve never been before?

TIDBITS: 
Seed Bombs were “re-invented” by a Japanese farmer named Masanobu Fukuoka who lived from 1913 to 2008.  He believed that farming was best done with limited interference form us humans (no plowing, pulling of weeds or adding fertilizer).  Some people now use seed bombs to help seed restricted areas, but you can place them anywhere you like as long as you have permission.

TIPS & IMAGININGS:

• Don’t place your seed balls in a plastic bag to dry (they won’t dry).
• Walk around your yard or neighborhood and imagine how it might look differently if there was more vegetation.  How can you help add some more green to your own landscape?

This activity is part of a series of low cost, hands on activities that can be used by anyone who has a passion for nature and who believes that a child's time spent in nature is not only important, but necessary.  Each activity was either created by me or gathered from a variety of sources.  You can find the complete list of all of the activities on my Nature Activities tab.

xoxo,

M

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