Planting seeds at playgroup, need hardy, hard wearing recommendations please?

[drowninginclutter]

I was hoping someone would be able to give some advice, I've just started running a parent and toddler group and wanted to plant things as a craft activity.

There is a raised bed which is currently empty, it has had some compost/topsoil added (sorry uncertain of details) but the original soil was of rather dubious quality so it may be a slightly challenging environment.

I was hoping to find some seeds which are almost certain to germinate even if they're enthusastically shoved in by toddlers and take a bit of a battering as they grow. Interesting flowers would be a bonus.

So far I've thought of nasturtiums (sp?) and not a lot else. Any ideas?

I work in a nursery school, and we are doing pretty much the same thing. We have sown quite a few veg seeds (lettuce, carrots, peas, runner beans etc), plus potatoes, plus we have some tomato and strawberry plants.

In terms of flowers nasturtiums are good, as you suggest, also sunflowers are pretty foolproof (and you can have competitions to see whose grows the biggest!). Marigolds are also pretty hardy.

If you have a local garden centre it might be worth asking if they would be willing to donate some seeds and plants. The one near us has been very generous.

The geraniums in our back garden have been sat on a few times and always bounced back - came from toddler playgroup planting activity originally.

And strawberries are pretty robust, with the fruit that you can eat right there and then. And you can always train the runners into new plants to grow next year or for the kids to take home.

I happen to have a colleague whose job this is (choosing foolproof plants for schools with quick results) and he would say radishes. He's picking them for educational purposes rather than to look nice, but it might be worth a go.

These ideas look really good. I had worried the soil might not be good enough for fruit/veg but strawberries would be lovely if they survived.

Definitely going to try all the flowers .

And ox-eye daisies and poppies grow well in poor soils (along with lots of other british wildflowers). Good for bees & hoverflies too.

Sorry was reading in a bit of a rush last night and missed radishes! I think they might be better for slightly older children, not entirely sure what toddlers would make of a pile of radishes at snacktime...although it might be fun to try

Wildflowers should be fairly indestructible!