West Kortright Centre Annual Kidstock Day

Written by Master Gardner Eileen Kline

For the past two summers, participants of all ages at two of the annual West Kortright Centre Kidstock days, enjoyed making Mini Kokedama Balls. Children as young as four as well as parents, grandparents and kids of all ages had fun with this activity.

Kokedama is a Japanese art craft of bonsai, involving using house plants, moss, soil and a few other materials to create a beautiful plant display. We used succulents to ensure the Kokedoma moss balls would be easy to maintain.

Last summer, about 75 participants assembled their Kokedama balls. This year due to stormy weather, we only had about 50 participants. Comments from parents and kids were, "they are so beautiful" " they are very organic”, "I will talk to my plant", and "my plant from last year is still doing great!".

Next year at Kidstock we will diversify our plant craft by doing a different project, for example, assembling terrariums. Because Kokedama is a fairly complicated craft, it's recommended that kids be at least 8 years old to assemble plants on their own. But even so, adult help is recommended for this activity.

Delaware County master gardeners and Kidstock staff and participants are grateful to Cooperative Extension for providing the resources to make this activity possible.

Last updated July 3, 2025