Things to do

• Arts and crafts
• Books for kids
• Easy card games
• Garden games
• Gardening with children
• Gardens in miniature
• Growing vegetables
• Having a laugh
• Home fun
• Music and rhythm
• Older kids outdoor games
• Online games for kids
• Online games for mums
• Playing and talking

Gardening: Growing Veg - Carrots

You can buy carrot seed to suit the container you have - if you've got deep troughs you can go for a long carrot, however if your containers are smaller then you can buy a seed that produces a smaller, more globular carrot. You need to be careful to plant these thinly so you don't have to do much thinning later. Thinning carrots attracts carrot fly which will eat your veg before you even get chance to dig it up.

Plant each seed ½ inch deep, and once your seedlings are about 1 inch tall thin them to about 2-3 inches apart. Make sure you throw the ones you pull up away.

Keep well watered to make sure they don't split while growing.

Children love to pull up carrots, tell them the story of the enormous turnip and watch them act it out with your tiny carrots!

Varieties to try:

• Parmax: These small globe shaped carrots are about 2-3 inches long and full of flavour.
• Mignon: Produces ‘baby' sized carrots which all children seem to love to eat whole and raw.
• Chanteney: Looks more like a real carrot but is still stumpy enough to grow well in pots.