Building a terrarium is one of the most entertaining things you could do with your kids at home. Especially if you want to get them more interested in growing plants. A terrarium is basically a miniature garden that you build inside of a container by adding soil, plants, pebbles, and all sorts of decorations. The great thing about terrarium containers is that you can get as creative as you want with them. They’re a lovely alternative for people who don’t have that much space to grow plants in. Today, we’re going to provide you with 5 terrarium containers ideas that you can create with your kids.
How to Build a Terrarium with Your Kids
1. Gather the Materials
Before detailing the 5 specific terrarium containers projects that we have in mind today, we thought it would be useful to also go through the steps you need to follow in order to build a terrarium. Basically, what you have to do is gather the materials that you’re going to need, according to the design you have in mind. Here are the main things you’ll definitely need for a terrarium containers project.
Find the Right Container
The container in which you’re going to build your terrarium is extremely important. The whole point of this type of project is to make the miniature garden as visible and as easily reachable as possible. Which means that a transparent container is the best way to go. We recommend a round fishbowl because they’re generally not incredibly big. As such, they’re better for you if you’re a beginner and you’ve never built a terrarium before. Still, you can also go for larger containers if you think you’re up for the task and if your child seems excited about this prospect.
Get Growing Medium
The next important thing that goes into building a terrarium is the growing medium. The first thing this implies is soil, which can be any kind of soil, but one that’s specifically targeted to the type of plants you want to grow would be best. You’re also going to need some gravel. That’s because before you place the soil in the container, you have to add about two inches of gravel. The type of gravel you choose is also completely up to you. If you have gravel in your garden or backyard, feel free to get some from there. If not, you can find aquarium gravel for sale. Your terrarium containers would look amazing if you were to buy multicolored gravel. This would bring a touch of color to your tiny garden.
Choose the Plants That You Want to Grow
The following materials you’re going to need are the actual plants. In terms of what you can grow in a terrarium, the choices are varied. People’s favorite choice is usually succulents because they look really nice for their size. Still, if you’re not into succulents, you can choose to grow ground covers, ferns, or even spider plants. As long as you keep your terrarium containers open, you don’t need to worry about choosing plants that are suitable for high humidity places. If you specifically want to grow plants that like high humidity then you should find some sort of lid or cover for the container.
Get Some Fun Decorations
Finally, we should also mention that terrarium containers look best when decorated with all sorts of miniature figurines. Feel free to allow your child to be imaginative and choose the figurines he or she likes. They don’t necessarily have to stick to a specific theme. Sure, animals might be better suited for a terrarium, but that doesn’t mean that any other figure that is small enough to fit in the container won’t be just as great.
2. Put Everything Together
Now, on to the fun part, which is putting all the materials together to build some amazing terrarium containers. As we’ve already mentioned, you should add about 2 inches of gravel first. Then, take your plants and carefully place them in the container, making sure to surround them with soil. Finally, add the decorations in whatever way you see fit, and you’ve got yourself a terrarium.
5 Terrarium Containers for Kids
1. Light Bulb Terrarium
Perhaps one of the most creative terrarium containers projects we’ve ever come across is growing your plants in a light bulb. Of course, the plant choices are limited, since the bulb itself is not extremely large. Even so, you still have plenty of room to add some tiny plants, just like in the image below, and even a miniature figurine.
What we love about this project is the fact that the growing medium is sandy. Moreover, it comes with tiny pebbles of different shades, which provides the entire terrarium with a more realistic look. You almost feel as if you’re on a beach, surrounded by plants, and that the crocodile figure could be a real life-sized animal. Since this container doesn’t take up a lot of space, you can place it anywhere around the house. Make sure to let anyone who asks know that it’s a project that you did with your child. We recommend making several such terrariums and decorating a windowsill with them.
2. Teacup Terrarium
Another really creative and cute idea for a terrarium container is a transparent teacup. The teacup doesn’t necessarily have to be transparent. If you want your plants to show as much as possible, clear would be the best option. For instance, the teacups in the image, allow you to properly admire the layering of all the elements they contain.
We have to mention the creativity of mixing plants with twigs, parsley, rocks, and even a miniature fairy. This creates a variation that you don’t see that often when it comes to terrariums. It actually stands as proof of what we were mentioning early on in this article, which is that there truly are no creative limits to building terrarium containers.
3. Christmas Ornament Terrarium
Even though Christmas has passed, it doesn’t mean that you can’t create some Christmas ornaments to use next year or, why not, to simply hang around your house all year round. We’re particularly impressed by the skill that it takes to fill the ornaments with soil and then place your plants there, but this is also what makes this project so fun. Your child will definitely enjoy creating this Christmas ornament terrarium, especially if he or she likes crafty projects.
Since Christmas ornaments are typically really small, you’ll have to limit yourself to just one plant and not that much soil. Filling the ornament about halfway with soil is everything your plants will need in order to thrive. Other than that, you could also attach a bow at the end of the ornament. This will give it a little bit of color, especially if you want to actually hang it in a tree.
4. Soda Bottle Terrarium
What better way to recycle soda bottles than to turn them into terrarium containers? The good news is that you can use any type of soda bottle, of any shape. The even more exciting news is that due to the fact that bottles are usually taller, you can also grow taller plants in this terrarium.
You can choose to place the bottle in an actual pot, as in the image above, or you can simply use the bottle as it is, without any additional support. Regardless of how you want to go about it, decorating the bottle would be an additional fun step for you to do with your child. You can tie a charm around the bottle’s neck, or you can even use stickers to make the bottle more colorful and playful.
5. Cake Stand Terrarium
Yes, you heard that right, you can build a terrarium out of a transparent cake stand. One of the best things about this idea is the fact that it allows you to grow a variety of plants since the space is quite generous. So if you’re looking for a large glass terrarium, this is the right choice for you. Moreover, you can also grow plants that thrive in humid conditions. That’s because the top of the cake stand is going to secure plenty of humidity for them.
We think the terrarium project above is particularly beautiful due to the flower choices and the fact that it seems to perfectly balance greenery and touches of color. Moreover, the color of the flowers finds reflection in the white pebbles placed at the bottom of the stand. This gives the terrarium a fairytale look that both you and your child will definitely adore.
6. Fishbowl Terrarium
This is by far the easiest one to use. Not only are fishbowls easy to find, but they are cheap. A fishbowl terrarium is the best choice for your first terrarium project with your kids. They are a little bigger in size which will make them heavier, but they are much easier to work with. Not only is there more room for error in a large bowl, but there is much more surface area that you can see.
This allows you to use it on a lower surface such as a small coffee table and also keep it up on a shelf. Its size makes it very easy to see the awesome terrarium you have created no matter how far away it is. The simplicity of this terrarium container makes it one of our favorites.
7. Pentagon Terrarium Container
An obvious choice for a terrarium container is to buy one specifically designed for it. While not our favorite option, it is one of the prettiest. Our favorite is the Geometric Pentagon Terrarium Container. It has a unique shape that will look great anywhere in the house. It is not very big so it can fit on small shelves without a problem.
Most terrarium containers that people use are round in shape. While they are obviously very beautiful, we like to mix it up every now and again. This terrarium is just as simple as the fishbowl terrarium. If you want to start with this container instead you would not have a problem.
8. Jar Terrarium
This is another very simple idea, but it is very small. We love the idea of using leftover jars to create a terrarium container. In this example, it was a clasp jar, but you can use anything you’d like that is similar. We are thinking of trying it with a mason jar.
The small size of this obviously makes it very cute but at the same time makes it one of the most versatile terrarium containers you could use. This will fit almost anywhere in your house and works as a great accent piece especially if you have larger terrariums. These are so easy and quick to make, you could make a bunch and spread them all around your house.
9. Coffee Pot Terrarium Container
This is very different than many of our suggestions so far. This idea may not work as well for a kid, but it is great for someone to use for a desk terrarium. If you love coffee then you should love this terrarium container.
As you can see in the photo above, someone decided that this terrarium would go well on their desk at work, and we agree. It is a unique option that is sure to be the talking point of visitors at work.
10. Fish Tank Terrarium
We have mentioned the fishbowl idea, but this takes it to the next level. I wouldn’t recommend this for your first terrarium, but if you want a challenge then this is for you. A fish tank is much larger than anything we have mentioned so far. It allows you to add larger plants and objects and take up a larger amount of space in your home.
Obviously, the example we have chosen here took this to the extreme and created an entire habitat. Most of our examples are very simple, so we wanted to give you one crazy one in case you thought you were up for it. Whether you add wildlife or not is up to you, but we really love how this one turned out.
Summing It All Up
We hope today’s guide has managed to show how creative and entertaining it can be to build a terrarium, especially with your child. From the terrarium containers that you can choose, to the plants that you decide to grow there, even to the decorations that you think would look nice next to your plants, the sky is the limit when it comes to the materials you have to get. So we suggest you don’t waste a minute longer and ask your child to help you build some lovely terrariums. You can find terrarium plants on Amazon.
