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Two Old Potatoes and Me

Language: English

A girl and her father find two old potatoes which they plant and tend, to see if they can grow new potatoes. LeVar and his daughter explore the benefits of recycling kitchen waste and visit artists who take cast offs and turn them into something useful.

Here are activities to do after watching this episode:

Those Eyes!

Try to grow a potato! Instead of discarding an old potato, help your child cut around the sprouted eyes (leaving a portion of the potato with the eyes) and plant them. Use a container that will be big enough to sustain the growth of a plant with roots. Care for the plant as you would any plant and see what happens!

Mashed Potatoes!

LeVar and Michaela put a dash of nutmeg on their mashed potatoes before eating them. Have a family tasting party and try out some different “toppers” for mashed potatoes such as pepper, garlic salt, grated cheese, bacon bits, onion flakes, paprika, a pat of butter, garlic pepper, any other likely herbs and spices, and, of course, nutmeg. Create a chart that shows which family members liked what toppers.

 

Potato Pal

What you need:

  • paper
  • heavy paper or cardboard
  • crayons
  • ruler or straight edge
  • large safety pin
  • metal fastener or twist tie

Each player draws a large potato on a piece of paper and colors it brown (or red).

Create a spinner

  1. Draw a circle on a piece of cardboard or heavy paper.
  2. Divide the circle into eight sections and label each section: nose, mouth, eye (2 sections), ear (2 sections), and leg (2 sections).
  3. Punch a hole in the center of the circle where the eight sections meet & insert a metal fastener or twist tie through the bottom of the safety pin (the end opposite from the pin’s opening) and push it through the hole in the circle’s center.
  4. Spread apart the two prongs of the fastener or the twist tie on the bottom of the cardboard.
  5. Flick the pin to spin.

Decide who goes first. The first player spins and then draws on their potato picture the body part pointed to by the spinner.
The next player spins and does the same.
When a player spins a body part that has already been added to their drawing (the nose, 2 eyes, etc.), that player misses a turn and the next person spins.
The first player to have a completed picture is “The Potato Pal.”

Check out some of these books on your
next trip to the library:

  • Weslandia by Paul Fleischman
  • Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
  • Pie in the Sky by Lois Ehlert

READING RAINBOW has a resource library that includes teacher guide materials as well as reading programs for use in the public libraries. You can download these resources from GPN at:
www.gpnresources.com

If you would like more information about READING RAINBOW or if you would like to learn more about other educational products please visit the GPN web site.

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