If you are under a pile of snow or simply in a cold climate, chances are your children are screaming “bored!” Would you like a few minutes to yourself? Then grab a potato and some bird seed or leftover garden seeds and be ready for a little time to get things done.
To make a potato pet planter, you will need a potato, dirt, bird seed or other seeds. Fresh herb seeds are especially nice, such as basil, oregano, parsley or chives.
We used golf tees for legs, which I found to be a bit unstable but useable. You can also use nails, toothpicks, pushpins or even broken pieces of a chopstick. Anything goes for the eyes, including googly eyes, tacks, cloves or buttons secured by pins. A pipe cleaner can be used for a tail.
Give your child the potato and allow him or her to hollow a portion of the top out with a pointed spoon. The hole has to be big enough to hold the dirt and seeds.
Once the hole is cut, let your child decorate, adding the legs, face and tail. If you don’t have anything to use for a face, the potato can be carved with a safe tool. Finally, add the dirt, some seeds and a bit more dirt on top. Put the potato planter on a plate and water gently when finished.
Our potato pet has to be watered daily. It took about a week for the seeds to begin to germinate. They are starting to grow nicely, but have another week or two to go.
These potato planter pets are a great craft for daisy, brownie or girl scout meetings too. They are also excellent as student gifts on Mother’s day.
If you grow your own potato pet with your child, send a picture and I will post your planter picture on Agoosa!
07 February 2010, 6:27 am
It’s a homemade chia pet!
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03 August 2010, 2:14 am
nice pet there. I ‘ll try these one maybe a carrot so we can have an originality
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Katherine Reply:
August 3rd, 2010 at 8:59 pm
I love that idea! A Carrot Pet!
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