There are lots of uses for a pretend potato. You can use it in games like Hot Potato or Potato Racing, or you can "cook" with it in dramatic play. In this activity, you'll find out an easy way to make your own pretend potato — out of an old pair of stockings! In the process, kids learn about the difference between reality and pretend, and how to tell the difference between the two.
What You Need:
- Brown panty hose
- Twist ties
- Black marker
- Scissors
- Potato
What You Do:
- Have your child cut the stockings at the ankle so she has a small stocking sock.
- Then, have her stuff the rest of the stocking inside the sock, filling it up and shaping it until it starts to look like a potato.
- When she's happy with it, you can either seal it off with a twist tie or just tie a small knot in the stocking fabric.
- Give her the black marker, and encourage her to decorate the potato. She can draw little dots on it so it resembles a real potato, or she can draw a funny face. Allow her to do whatever she wants with it.
- When you're all done, pull out a real potato for comparison. Ask her tell tell you about the similarities between the two. How about the differences? Encourage her to think about times she would use a real potato, and times she might want to use a pretend potato instead.
When you're all done comparing, start your playing! You can use it in games like Hot Potato or Rolling the Potato, or you can challenge your child to come up with a new potato game!
By Sharon MacDonald
Adapted with permission from "Everyday Discoveries." Copyright 1998 by Sharon MacDonald. Used by Permission of Gryphon House, Inc., Maryland. All Rights Reserved.
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