B a r b a r a s h e r I l L u s t r a t I o n s b y r a L p h

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Focused
Games for 6- to 12-Year-Olds
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A T E R I A L S
Potatoes
Knife (for adult use only)
Straight pins, thumbtacks, toothpicks, or paper and glue
Red felt-tip marker (optional)
Yarn, handkerchief, or aluminum foil
D
I R E C T I O N S
Take a small potato and cut a hole in one end large enough for one or two
fingers to fit into.
For eyes and nose, your child can poke in pieces of paper or other
objects with straight pins or thumbtacks, or she can paste on dots of paper.
For the mouth, she can dig out a round hole and color it with red felt-
tip marker, draw a mouth on paper and paste it or tack it on, or scratch on
a “happy face” smile with a pin.
The hair can be a handkerchief tied around the head, bits of yarn
pinned into the top, or torn strips of aluminum foil pinned to the head for
the “heavy metal” look.
Once the puppets are made, act out a scenario. It could be the events of
that day, starting from that morning, or it could be a pretend situation,
such as going to see the doctor or being an actress getting interviewed at
the debut of her big Potato Head film.
You can also take advantage of stories already written and act out your
version of a classic fairy tale.
V
A R I A T I O N S
⽧ If you want to use your Halloween pumpkin-carving skills, get as elab-
orate as you want with mouths that have teeth and eyes that are deep
set and have raisins for pupils. You can get as simple or as complex as
seems fitting to the moment and age level.
⽧ Don’t have a potato handy? You can also do simple instant puppets by
wrapping an adhesive bandage around your sweetie’s finger and draw-
ing a face on it.