It's That Time of the Year!!!

It's that time of year! It's time to plant leprechaun pots- one of my favorite winter activities! My students always loved this project.

Ask your lunchroom personnel to save empty milk cartons for your class. Each student will need one. If you have parent volunteers, have them rinse out the cartons and cut off the tops.

If you plan to laminate the leprechaun pot papers, they should be colored with colored pencils or fine tipped markers (crayons will melt and run). If you aren't going to laminte them, then use crayons or colored pencils (markers will run).
If you plan to laminate them, cut out the papers first and laminate them. Then cut them out after laminating them and leave about 1/8" of laminate around the four edges of the papers. This will keep water from getting into the colors. Fold the papers on the dotted lines so they will fit around the straight sides of the milk cartons. Tape the leprechaun papers around the milk cartons.

 Now you are ready to do the planting! Have your students spoon about one cup of potting soil into their milk cartons. Parent volunteers can help 2-3 children at a time. Students can then sprinkle grass seed across the soil. They should add enough water so their soil and grass seeds are wet. Put the leprechaun pots in a window with the leprechauns facing your classroom. They should be watered regularly (always keep them wet). Don't forget to water them on Fridays before weekends. See if your custodian will let you keep your drapes/blinds open over the weekends so the plants can get light. Students will learn that their grass needs sun and water to grow!

As the grass grows, it will look like the leprechauns' hair is growing- very fun! Let your students give their leprechauns hair cuts with scissors (over a wastebasket). Parent volunteers can supervise 1-2 students doing haircuts.

I always let my students take their leprechaun pots home on St. Patrick's Day. I hope your students enjoy planting and growing their leprechaun pots, too! You can get the Leprechaun Pots packet HERE or HERE.