Activity:
Plant Pets
Bring the fun of gardening indoors! Your child will chuckle at the sight of these little heads growing grassy green hair. By stuffing a simple pair of pantyhose with a few grass seeds on top, your child can grow her very own "pet." Your child will learn gardening basics and responsibility, while using her imagination to create a personality for her little pet and decorate it as such. She can embellish it with googly eyes, a nose, and smile, and then set it by the windowsill to cheer up those passing by.
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What You Need:
- Nylon panty hose
- Scissors
- Potting soil
- Grass seeds
- Construction paper in a variety of colors
- Hot glue or rubber cement
- Colored markers
- Wiggly eyes (available at your local craft store)
What You Do:
- Begin by helping your child cut one of the legs of the panty hose from the rest to be used for the head. The cut should be at approximately knee length on the hose, and you will be using the part with the toe end.
- Once she has cut the portion of the panty hose, ask her to add a small handful of potting soil and pack it into the toe end.
- Help her sprinkle a layer of grass seeds evenly on the top of the soil added to the toe.
- Have your child fill the panty hose with a few more scoops of potting soil on top of the seeds. She can now decide how big the head should be, but it is a good idea to aim for about the size of a baseball or softball.
- Once she has added all the soil, help her to pack it all down and then tie off the end of the panty hose. Cut off the remaining length of the hose at the end of the knot.
- Next, have her cut out, draw, and glue facial features on the head. Will he have bushy eyebrows, or will she have bright red lips? Encourage your child to add as many features as she can think of. Remind your child that the toe end of the head is the top, as this is where the grassy hair will be sprouting.
- With the head complete, place it on a small tray or dish (so as to collect any excess water) and set it on a windowsill. Tell your child that all plants need water and sunshine to grow, and remind her to water the head.
Your child will love playing "barber," as the sprouting green hair grows longer and longer!
