Now for the prickly ones! The children need to pick them up by wrapping a folded sheet of newspaper around each one, so that they do not get the prickles in their fingers. Ask them to plant them in their pot and carefully firm them in.
When they are all planted, the children should place pebbles in the spaces between the plants, then use the sand and shingle to cover any soil they can still see.
They can water the pot gently using a watering can with a sprinkler end on it.
They should place their new garden on a windowsill and wait for it to start growing!
The garden will only need to be watered when the soil is dry. These plants come from places where water is extremely rare!
Drainage is all-important for these plants. Mix up two parts of compost with one part coarse sand or grit.

Tips and advice
Choose plants with your children from the 'cactus' section at your local garden centre. Take care with the thorns and prickles; some are extremely sharp! Others are dangerous because they enter the skin like a splinter, but cannot be seen, which makes removal difficult.
Although these plants are generally grown for their beautiful foliage, some will flower.