We have had a bit of luck growing sunflowers in the past few years. Until last year, which was a complete disaster and nothing we planted grew at all. I’m determined this year we will have a success. If truth be told I’m totally hopeless at gardening and the only house plant which has ever survived is one, rather pathetic looking cactus. But if I can keep three troublesome tots alive I really should be able to grow something a bit more impressive .
Sunflowers are really good plants for little ones. They grow quickly in a single pot and look so impressive and cheerful when they are fully grown. First we read some books about sunflowers.
Sam plants a sunflower by Kate Petty
Charlotte the Sunflower Fairy by Daisy Meadows
Katie and the Sunflowers by James Mayhew
The Sunflower Sword by Mike Spelling
Lifecycle of a sunflower by Heinemann Paperback
The we planted the flowers. I have made some labels for each of the girls with their names on them. I thought this would work well for a bit of practice with name recognition as they can see which plant is growing the fastest and which ends up the tallest. The girls also made some little flags to go on the top to show which were sunflowers and which pumpkins.
Out in the garden we were ready to do some planting. I find it easiest to get everything ready before doing something like this with the girls. if they have to sit and wait while I set it up they get bored and start messing around.
The girls all enjoyed planting their seeds. I put it all on the picnic bench so the dirt could fall on the grass underneath and not have too much tidying up.
They did really well putting soil in all the pots. Charlotte wanted to just play with the soil and after a bit started throwing it around so I had to get her to leave the table. It’s a shame because she has got a bit better at not throwing things everywhere but sometimes she can’t help herself.
Once they watered the girls stuck their flags in the correct pots. 
Then we lined them up on the window sill in a bright sunlit spot. Fingers crossed they will grow!
We have made some beautiful potato print pictures based on Van Gogh’s sunflowers.
This post is part of the centre Parcs Family Blogger Club.
To be in with a chance of winning a short break at Center Parcs for you and your family, they are challenging you to get out in the garden with the kids and take pictures of the result. Then, just send a tweet including the hashtag #CPFamilyBreaks to @tots100 and @CenterParcsUK, linking to your blog post. Please find the full terms and conditions for the challenge here, and do make sure to be careful when handling certain plants if you are prone to allergies.
