The Windowsill for kids

A room with one window, and plants that tell you what they think. Feel the soil before you water. Move a plant if it complains about the light. Snip the yellow leaves. Every plant here is a real plant, and every rule comes from people whose job is knowing plants.

For grown-ups and teachers

This version needs no account and sends nothing to us. The room is saved in the browser on this device, so the same computer shows the same room tomorrow. Time runs on the real calendar, like the full game, but the “pretend a day passed” button lets a class watch a week of wet soil or a week of dark corner happen inside one lesson.

The plants are the fifteen in the full game. Their light, water and pet-safety facts come from university extension services and the ASPCA, quoted on each plant card with a link, and the longer explanation for each plant is an article on this site. The one thing the game does not do is give day counts as facts: how long a pot takes to dry is not something anyone publishes, and the site says so.

Three things to try

Water the pothos every day for a week and watch what it says. Put the cactus in the darkest corner and the calathea on the sunniest sill, then swap them. Say there is a cat at home when you set up the room, get a snake plant, and see where it is safe.