One fun idea is a sunflower fort: http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_structures_other/article/0,,HGTV_3639_3618592,00.html My kids and I tried one last year. I grew in the sunflowers in a separate container, and they helped me plant them all out. It didn't turn out quite like I had the hoped, but they sunflowers still turned out beautiful. We planted morning glory seeds to fill in the gaps. You're supposed to to tie strings across the tops of the sunflowers so the morning glories can make a roof. Well, not all of the morning glories sprouted, and those that did were victims of my husband's weed wacker :) He thought the MGs were weeds, and I forgot to tell him otherwise. It was still fun for my kids to watch the tremendous growth of the sunflowers. Here's a pic:
Sorry, I don't know why my whole post is crowded like this. I'm probably doing something wrong picture-wise.
I have never had luck with sunflowers and my daughter really wanted one of the sunflower forts/playhouses but we could never get them to sprout — I’m obviously doing something wrong.
Any hints or tips on growing the sunflowers?