Earth Day Grassy Potato Head

We love creating activities that bring meaning alive for children. Often times, for Earth Day, children struggle to grasp concepts beyond placing items to be recycled in the correct bin. We believe the best way to help children to appreciate and care for their planet is to harness their inherent curiosity and engage them with nature right in their own classroom!

What you need:

Old potato (but not rotten!)
Oat seeds, grass seeds, or catnips seeds
Markers, craft supplies
Cotton balls
Water
Old popsicle sticks or craft sticks

Directions:

1.) Talk with your children about what it REALLY means to recycle. I’ve found that children don’t always connect throwing a bottle into the correct bin with just exactly how it helps our planet. An easy way to explain recycling is “we can take something old, and turn it into something new, to help our planet by not wasting.”

2.) Cut the top and bottom off of one of the russet potatoes. Use a spoon or a melon baller to scoop out the top of the potato.

3.) Use any classrooms materials such as paint, tape, pipe cleaners, glue, poms, markers, etc. to decorate your potato to make a face.

4.) Using fingers, carefully spread apart the cotton balls, slightly expanding them.

5.) Sprinkle the grass seeds on the cotton balls and keep watered. Place dish near a window that gets some sun but not in direct sunlight (you may want to mist the top with water to keep it moist). Monitor and record progress until your potato has grown a head full of "hair"!