A small selection of planting pots (we decorated our plant pots by painting them, but you could wrap them in pretty coloured paper)

Bulbs of your choice (we used indoor and outdoor bulbs), available from your local garden centre

Compost

Tabs for labelling each pot

1 Fill the pots half full with the compost and water it so the bulb has something to drink when you plant it. Choose the bulbs next so you don't mix up indoor and outdoor plants.

2 Gently push the root end of the bulbs into the compost and then fill all around the bulb with more compost. Push it down with your fingers so the bulb gets some support when it starts to germinate. We pushed our labels into the pot at this stage so we knew which was which later on.

3 Give each pot a little water and them put them somewhere warm, dry and dark so they can begin to sprout. In the middle of January to the middle of February you should really see some shoots coming through. Keep an eye on them and give them a little drink every so often.

4 Take the pots out of the dark when you can see about 6cm of bulb. The sun will start to turn the shoots green. They make lovely spring presents and they are often ready to flower around Easter time.

Idea taken from Custard and Crayons with Polly and Jago by Jo Vestey and Sarah Rowden. Available to purchase online at www.pollyandjago.com and in all good bookshops for just £12.99.

Polly and Jago's Custard and Crayons is a book packed with ideas, activities and projects designed to stimulate and encourage children.

Divided into 12 monthly chapters, the book features multi-cultural dates such as Easter, Ramadan, Valentine's day and Christmas, showing children how to make everything from handmade marshmallows to stitching a stocking. It brings together a wealthy of exciting activities which use everyday objects, and some deliciously simple recipes.