First, a big thank you to Clar Bowman-Jahn who recently awarded me the Sunshine and Kreatif blogger awards. Clar, you added sunshine to my day! Please check out her blog….here.
Potatoes and St. Patrick’s Day go together like peanut butter and jelly. What better way to craft some St. Patrick’s Day fun than with potato stamps?
Here’s what you need:
- 2 or more potatoes
- heart-shaped cookie cutter(s)
- knife
- green tempura paint
- white paper, one for each child
- newspaper
- paper plate(s)
- wipes for cleaning up
Here’s what you do:
- Prepare your stamps: Slice each potato in half. Press the cookie cutter into the cut end of the potato. Using your knife, cut off the portion of the potato around your heart by at least 1/4 inch.
- Cover your workspace in newspaper (note: doing this outside or at the park is a great choice for easy cleanup.)
- Pour the green paint onto a disposable paper plate.
- Give the children sheets of white paper and show them how to make a three or four-leaf clover by stamping the potato and using their fingers to paint the stem.
- Clean up is easy: Throw the newspaper, stamps and plates in the trash. Use wipes to wipe off hands until you can get everyone to the sink for a good washing.
- I decided to laminate our artwork after it dried to make St. Patrick’s Day place mats. You also can cover them in clear contact paper to achieve the same effect.
Potato stamps are easy to make and are great for any occasion. My aunt had lots of brown paper at Christmas time. She and her grandchildren decorated it with potato stamps to make special wrapping paper.
Now, here are a few things you should know about St. Patrick’s Day.
- St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, wasn’t even Irish. He was born in Wales.
- St. Patrick used the three-leaf clover to teach people about the Holy Trinity, with each leaf representing one aspect of God: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- There’s a legend that St. Patrick drove all the snakes in Ireland down to the seashore where they drowned.
- People believe St. Patrick died on March 17, 461 AD, which is why we celebrate that day as St. Patrick’s Day.
Kirsten…obviously I wasn’t paying attention. 🙂 I didn’t realize Clar had given you the Kreativ Blogger and Sunshine Awards…and I passed them along to you as well. 🙂 You deserve them…times two. 🙂
http://viviankirkfield.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/reflections-speak-to-us-of-children/
I love the potato print shamrocks…awesome craft for kids. 🙂
You are so sweet Vivian. I’ll steer people your way in my next post. I was a day or two late posting my thanks to Clar, as I had a week’s worth of blog posts ready to go and have been swamped with other things.
Aye, ’tis the gift of craftin’ ya have there Kirsten!
Not really, but I try to make sure my boys have a chance to try different things, even if they aren’t my thing. 🙂
We did potato stamps in school! They’re fun. I never knew that the 17th is the day St. Patrick died. I always thought that was when he was born. Here’s another fact – his real name is Maewyn Succat (I learned that from Veggie Tales 🙂 )
Ahhhhh, Veggie Tales. I’ve learned so many Bible studies from those singing veggies. My favorite is the fiery furnace.