What You Need:
- Plastic knife
- Table
- Newspaper
- Cucumber
- Toothpicks
- Pen
What You Do:
- Cover your table with newspaper.
- Demonstrate the safe way to cut the cucumber. Firmly grip the plastic knife and make a sawing, back-and-forth motion to gently cut through the cucumber.
- Have your child cut off the “head” of your cat. Anywhere between three to five inches will work.
- Help him use a pen to mark where cat's eyes should be on the head.
- Point how the different shades of green on the cucumber. The deeper he cuts into the cucumber, the lighter the green will be.
- Let him use a knife to cut and dig out the eyes for the cat, using the pen marks as a guide.
- Time to make the cat's ears. Feel free to get a little more hands' on with these next steps -- cat ears can be tricky to make.
- Have your child use the pen to draw a "V" shape where each ear should be.
- Let him draw a smaller "V" inside each big "V."
- Take the plastic knife and carefully cut along the pen lines.
- Use a toothpick to prop each ear up.
- Next are the legs! Use the plastic knife to cut a piece of cucumber about three inches long.
- Have your child cut that piece into fourths.
- Let him use toothpicks to attach each leg to the rest of the cucumber (the cat's body). Have your child experiment, deciding how many toothpicks to use for each leg.
- Now that he's gotten the hang of toothpick attaching, let him put the cat's head on the body.
- Have your child use the remaining cucumber scraps to make a tail.
- Attatch the tail with another toothpick.
Why not make a whole zoo out of your vegetable drawer? Use this tasty arts and craft project to explore unusual creatures with your child -- or you can get creative by constructing a whole new type of animal!
