Present for grandchildren

I have just ordered a children's magazine and a geography activity kit for my DGC (10 and 7) homeschooling in California. Hopefully they will be occupied for a while with that. They are missing their school pals.

Callistemon... that’ll be the teachers getting stick on other threads for having an easy time of it no doubt!

Thank you everyone for the suggestions.

I can think of a good kit for growing children...it's a bit expensive and called IVF.
??

They're brine shrimps, I think.
You can get cyclops thingys as well.

They look quite scary.

I think they're shrimps

(Are they?)

Yikes!!! ????

Can you eat them if the online shop fails to come?
In a stir fry?

Sea monkeys are interesting to hatch and grow.

They could make their own wormery to make soil for their plants.
There is a YouTube video, using a large yogurt container.

DGD has one of those, I must remind her. Perhaps she will make me some new mats.

Mustard and cress is easy and very quick to grow in an empty eggshell with the top cut off. Draw and colour a funny face on the outside and have a family of them sitting in egg-cups. The sprouting cress looks like hair.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202003/medium-895030-screenshot-20200320-232116.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202003/medium-70932-screenshot-20200320-232222.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202003/medium-457562-screenshot-20200320-232202.jpg

Thing with growing stuff is that it doesn't occupy for more than the time it takes to plant and then look at once a day.
Here's some photos of the item I mentioned in prev post.

Hobbycraft has 'Paint your Own' money boxes, plus ceramic boxes for older girls, animals etc, not expensive. They come with paints and a brush.

What about a Knitting Nancy (that's what they used to be called) which is a wooden doll-like thing with hooks on top around which you wind wool and hook with the tool provided. It makes a long knitted snakey thing which emerges from the hole down the centre of the 'doll'.
It can be made into place-mats, toys or anything they like, imagination is key.
I had one but boys might like it too.
Another idea is to use buttons and wool on old socks to make hand puppets with which children can then make a puppet show.

Ours like growing sunflowers tomsee see whose is tallest, you could give a prize to encourage them to look after them.
And consolation prizes.

Craft kits, another thread has a link to free books online.

Although DS did say ours have come home with a lot of schoolwork to keep them occupied, the teachers must have been very busy compiling it all.

Our kids have been sent home with cactus kits. They should have germinated and be ready to transplant into pots by the start of next term. They are sharing pics and comparing notes, and at the end of the year, we’re having a cactus judge coming into school to award prizes.