forcing bulbs

Here is a Tuesday night activity we had on Faith. I gave a spiritual thought on the "seeds of faith" and what is a flower bulb but a big seed?, so I taught how to force bulbs. I bought a bunch of Paper White narcissus bulbs, because they can be forced without a cooling period. Here are directions on forcing the bulbs:

Fill a shallow bowl or pot with two to three inches of pebbles, pea gravel, coarse sand, or pearl chips to within one inch of the rim. Add water until it barely reaches the top of the gravel. Set the bulbs on top of the gravel and hold in by filling with enough gravel to cover the bottom quarter of each bulb. The water level should be constantly maintained. Keep the bulbs in a cool (55º to 60 ºF), low-light area until they are well rooted and shoots start to appear. Then bring the bulbs into a sunny, warm location. Discard these bulbs after flowering, since all of their stored food is used.

Help the girls plant their bulbs and then have them set a faith goal of praying every day, reading scripts or something they want to develop a habit of. And everyday when they check the water for their bulbs and see the growth it is a reminder to work on their goal that day. After a few weeks the plants will bloom and by then the girls will have developed a new habit and be reaping the fruits of their faith as well as enjoying their beautiful flowers.