Potato People

Overview:

This St. Patrick's Day, we celebrate the Irish staple with a nod to a beloved toy: Mr. Potato Head! Similar to how the original Mr. Potato Head was created, we'll show you how to easily decorate a potato to create a fun and festive friend!

You will need:

Potatoes (one per "doll")
Glue dots
Googly eyes
Pipe cleaners
Popsicle sticks and/or toothpicks
Other decorative items (pom-poms, markers, fabric, stickers, etc.)
Stick pins (for attaching decor; requires adult supervision)

Rating:

Supervision:

1 adult per 5 children

Difficulty:

Easy peasy (fun and simple)

Age:

Preschool, School-age, Tweens

Mess Factor:

Dustpan, please

Prep Time:

5 minutes or less

Time Length:

5 - 15 minutes

Step 1:

To begin, it helps to have a nice, clean potato! Wash your potatoes and dry them thoroughly. You should allow 24 hours for them to dry completely. (Glue won't stick to a wet potato!) Now, there are an infinite number of ways to turn a simple potato into a cute friend, but we'll show you some tried-and-true techniques. First, let's use glue dots to stick on some googly eyes and a pom-pom for a nose!

Step 2:

Next, we'll add some hair by poking pipe cleaners into the potato. You should be able to simply poke the ends in, but if you need a "pilot hole," an adult can poke the potato first with a toothpick.

Step 3:

Once the pipe cleaners are attached, you can curl them up into wild hairstyles!

Step 4:

If you have ribbon, fabric, or other similar pieces of decor, you and attach it to the potato by securing them with stick pins. Once again, if you're using pins, and adult needs to help!

Step 5:

You can make a broad smile out of a pipe cleaner by poking the end of the pipe cleaner into the face, and smoothing it flat across the potato before poking it in the other side.

Step 6:

Creating arms and legs out of popsicle sticks is just as easy! You can cut them in half for length, and then push them into the potato's sides and underside.