Creating A Play Area for Kids With Indoors Plants

​Plants create a pleasant indoor environment. Having plants around your home can not only allow you to eat healthy produce affordably, it has also been proven to make people feel happier and calmer. We are meant to live in green, leafy environments and growing plants indoors can help us keep our connection to the natural world. Kids can enjoy a home filled with indoors plants as much as adults. Use your imagination and you can create a play area for kids using indoors plants. This play area can be used to teach them about growing food but can also serve as a safe and relaxed space for all sorts of play. 

​A Runner Bean Wigwam
 
Runner beans climb quickly up canes used as supports and can be grown in large pots in the same way as they are grown in the ground, as long as they are filled with a good, fertile planting medium. To create a den for kids in a sunny room which gets at least 4-5 hours of sunshine per day, simply place large pots in a circle. Place a garden cane or long, straight branch in each one and lean all your posts into the centre to make a wigwam, securing them with twine. In each container, sow a few runner beans – soon these will grow up the canes and create a private den for kids. The scarlet flowers will also be attractive within your home and come harvest, will have plenty of beans for eating green, or drying when mature for use later in the year.
 
A Pea Screened Play Pen Den
 
Another simple idea for creating a play area using edible plants is to create a den for kids by growing peas up a simple play pen or other basic structure. Peas are easy to grow and kids can enjoy picking and eating the pods and peas straight from the plant as they play. Simply place containers around the edge of your play pen and plant peas in each one. The peas will scramble up the structure (play pen or similar) that you have provided for them and give kids a place to hide for 'secret' picnics and the like.

A Seed Growing Kitchen or 'Science Lab'
 
Imaginative play is key for children's development and providing an area where they can experiment and cook up their own plant based recipes will help them to develop their imaginations, as well as skills they will need later in life. Help them to plant up some edible crops that they can use to make their own salads, and provide seeds and pots to help them experiment with indoors growing on their own terms.