How to make a Terrarium / Indoor Ecosystem

We are getting done with our study of the story of creation. I thought a good 'end of unit' study, before we move on, would be making our own tiny ecosystems. They are SO easy and so fun!

You need:

• A jar, of any size. The largest was an unused gallon pickle jar from the pantry. The smallest was a Tikka Masala sauce jar from dinner last night.
• Small gravel (from our yard)
• Terrarium charcoal
• Tiny plants (ask the nursery worker when you look for the charcoal which ones will work)
• Bark or peat moss
• Moss (collected from the yard is just fine.)
• Decent garden/potting soil
• Glass gems, larger rocks, or tiny plastic critters (just from around the house in our case)

1.) Layer on the bottom, the ingredients as follows:

Gravel, then charcoal, then bark, and then soil. Make sure it does not go above 1/4 of your jar.

2.) Add in plants into the center.

3.) Around the plants, place pieces of the moss. Use chopstick to move your moss around until you get it in the right place.

4.) Use finger tips or a dowel with a large cork on the end of it, to pat the soil and moss down around the outside of the jar. Arrange to look pretty.

5.) Place rocks, tiny critters, or pretty pieces of tumbled glass around the terrarium as accents.

6.) Every three days, squirt the ecosystem with a squirt bottle. The moss is your canary in the coal mine. When it starts to look dry, you know you need more water.

Enjoy and happy crafting!