How to Carve a Potato

Kids can use carved potatos for craft projects.

Kids love a new craft idea, especially if it involves making prints. While there are many ways to help to do craft prints, an unusual one you may not have tried is using potato stamps. These stamp shapes are cut into the potato. Children then dip the potato stamp in paint and use it to stamp the shape onto a sheet of paper or poster board. Creating these stamps is a relatively easy process, but does require adult assistance.

Things You'll Need

• Potatoes
• Knife
• Colored markers
• Paper
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Use the knife to cut each potato in half. Give each child a piece of paper and a marker.

2. Direct the children to draw a shape on the paper. It can be a square, rectangle or some other shape, as long as it's smaller than the potato they'll be using.

3. Give the children safety scissors so they can cut out the shape.

4. Place one child's cut out shape on a potato. Trace it with a marker, then cut down around the shape with a knife. Cut in from the edge to remove the border, leaving the center shape. The potato stamp is ready to use. Repeat this for the other children's drawings.

References

• Family Education: Potato Prints