Seeds for kids to plant in pots?

[Smithagain]

I'm running a children's Easter activity day, on Easter Saturday.

For one of the activities I'd like to give them terracotta plant pots to decorate, fill with seed compost and plant a seed in.

Can anyone suggest a good seed? It needs to be something that is

1. easy for kids to handle
2. likely to grow into something, if sown on Easter Saturday (in SE England)
3. ideally, something that could be grown in a pot, if families don't have a garden to plant it out into.
4. something with a flower or fruit that children will like - because this is all about creating new life and it will be a bit boring if all they get is leaves!

I wondered about dwarf varieties of runner beans or sunflower, on the assumption they are a bit more manageable than full size ones. Or maybe nasturtiums?

Any other suggestions?

I was going to suggest nasturtiums - DD and DS grew some last year, and despite some shameful neglect, they did OK, even though we planted them rather too late.

We have planted lots of seeds from supermarket Granny Smiths in the last few years, and they have all grown well, much to my surprise.
Sounds a terrific idea, you could do a fab terracotta pot with a guaranteed grower like the nasturtium ,and some extra yogurt pots for the early finishers with beans/sunflower seeds/contents of your lunchtime apple core, so they can see all sorts of different sprouts.
Peas, alfalfa, mustard & cress are also intersting.
Lucky kids.

Sunflower seeds are really good, as long as the children have space to plant them in a big pot or flowerbed outside when they are ready.

Or perhaps cress? No flower, but edible and really fast.

Also, DS2 really enjoyed growing the Sensitive Plant which is easy. Fun because its leaves fold away abruptly when it is touched.

Thanks for the suggestions. Think I might have nasturtiums, sunflowers and cress available and let the parents steer their children towards something they can accommodate at home!

My kids love growing the TickleMe Plant aka shy plant, sensitive plant. We grow them every Easter!
I got mine at www.teachersource.com/NewProducts/NewinVolume19Catalog/TickleMePlants.aspx?gclid=CPzZyd2TgJIC FQEjFQod82hw-A
Teacher sources sells internationally while www.ticklemeplant.com seems to only sell in the US. Vistit the TickleMe Plant site for video information and growing tips and experiments kids can do!
Happy Tickling :-)

i would grow bulbs, actually, they are more reliable and easier for kids

or second idea of cress, esp as it goes with eggs

I did wonder about bulbs, Fillyjonk, but I was concerned that some of them irritate the skin.

Are there some that are OK for small children to handle AND will grow if planted at this time of year?

Re good garden seeds etc for children, ive just come across the cutest little seed boxes by Eugea with mixed seeds called 'butterfly garden' 'insect garden' and 'orchard', obviously containing seeds to attract insects, etc and the orchard has a selection of tomoatoes, salad, etc. The presentation is wonderful,great for presents, and its linked to a charity for children.. though we havent tried planting them yet. Found them on shop.MummyDeli.com.
Hope that helps.

sunflowers fantastic value

they come up quick and they come up tall