Grow a cress head!

Plants need water, air and sunlight to grow. Did you know they can grow without soil? You can make your own cress head to prove this! Experiment using a homemade greenhouse to see if a greenhouse helps the cress to grow.

What you need:

• Cress seeds
• Two eggs or yoghurt pots
• Kitchen roll
• Cotton wool
• Felt tips or paint
• Clear plastic drinks bottle
• Scissors

How to:

1. If you're using eggs, boil the eggs until they're hard boiled. Take the tops off gently. You can eat the boiled eggs - try them with toast soldiers - yummy! Clean the inside of the eggs gently, so they don't break. If you're using yoghurt pots, clean the inside of the pots.
2. Draw a face on the egg shells or yoghurt pots using felt tips or paints.
3. When the paint has dried, wet some kitchen roll and put it in the bottom of the egg shells or yoghurt pots.
4. Wet some cotton wool and put it on top of the kitchen paper. Make sure there is a gap between the cotton wool and the top of the egg shells or yoghurt pots.
5. Put some cress seeds on the cotton wool and press them down gently.
6. Put your egg shells or pot in a sunny, warm spot - try a kitchen windowsill.
7. You can make a greenhouse to put over one of the egg shells or pots. Ask an adult to cut the top off a plastic drinks bottle. Put the bottom half of the drinks bottle over the top of one yoghurt pot or egg shell. The inside of your greenhouse will be warm and damp.

Cress head! (c) getdancey

When the cress gets green leaves on top of the stalks, you can eat it! Cut the tops off the stalks and try them in a sandwich or a salad.

Which cress plants grew best? Did the greenhouse help the cress grow?

Main image (c) crunchcandy