C is for Cactus... Potato Cactus!
This potato cactus project is by far one my favorites! I got the idea from the Everything Preschool site. The instructions are short and sweet:
What You Need:
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- Potato or cucumber or paper or play dough
- Toothpicks
- Paint
What You Do:
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- Either give your children a potato with the bottom cut off or a piece of paper cut into the shape of a cactus. Let them stick toothpicks in it and paint it to make it look like a cactus.
That’s it! Easy as pie! Both my children (3 and 7) made a potato cactus, and it was enjoyed by both equally! I was surprised at how well my 3-year-old did with inserting the toothpicks… she’s a strong little lady! I used toothpicks with blunt tips for safety reasons, and she had no problems whatsoever! (note: I did need to trim the tips off both my kid’s cactus spines because they were too long.. I did this with wire cutters, taking care to hold onto the tips as I cut so they wouldn’t fly into anyone’s eye!)
This is a fun project from start to finish (poking with toothpicks is right up there on the fun scale with the painting part (a classic favorite)! Perhaps we’ll revisit this project in the future, making a whole desert scene with sand and tumbleweeds, etc.!
