Mr and Mrs Potato Head are always super easy to come by, and affordable to purchase and use in your classroom. Today I’m sharing 10 potato heads activities that you can try with your students that target a range of skills.
1. Crime Scene
This had to be number 1 for me. If you know me at all, you know how much I love to use a crime scene with my students!
I actually created a crime scene to be used in February with my students (it can be used year round, I just chose February for Valentine’s Day) where students have to find who stole Mrs Potato Head’s heart! Click here to read all about it. You can also download a copy to use with your students here.
2. Sequencing
Take photos of different steps of building Mr / Mrs Potato Head. Turn them into photo task cards and have your students follow the photos to copy the sequence of building Mr / Mrs Potato Head.
3. Group Game
I go into more detail about the group game I use in this blog post.
But basically, I put all of the body parts/accessories of Mr Potato Head into a box.
I pass around the box and sing..
“Tap tap box, tap tap box, tap tap Joseph what’s in the box?”
The student taps the box along to the song. Once it’s finished, they open the box and pull out 1 accessory, then pass on to the next student.
Once all the pieces are gone, pull out Mr Potato Head’s body. Hold up symbols of the body part you are looking for and ask students if they have that same piece and if so, to put it on Mr Potato Head.
This is perfect for so many skills in just one game. Turn-taking, speech, identifying body parts/accessories, knowing where the items go on a body etc.
4. Classroom Reward System
This is one that I love to do! You can use Mr / Mrs Potato Head as a reward system for your students.
Each time someone does something great – you can decide what constitutes as a reward – the student wins a piece of Mr Potato Head / Mrs Potato Head. They (or you) place this piece of the potato head. Once the potato head is fully kitted out, the class has a reward!
5. Working on Body Parts
Being able to identify and recognize body parts can be a really hard skill for our students. Using the potato heads is a great way for you to be able to work on these body parts in a fun, hands on and engaging way for your students.
I have so many other ways that I use the potato heads in my classroom, and I’m so excited to be sharing them up in an upcoming blog post and/or Instagram reel with you all – so make sure you’re following me on those platforms!
6. Writing Prompts
Dress up your potato heads in different outfits and accessories, then position them around your classroom – or even at home, outside, at a park etc. Take photos and use them as writing prompts with your students.
7. Classroom Mascot
Having a classroom mascot can be a pretty fun way to work on a range of skills with your students. Get your potato head a little book, suitcase or bag and get ready to send him on an adventure every Friday evening with your students. Students take Mr/Mrs Potato Head home for the weekend and do different things with him, then draw and write about it in the journal. This is great to read about on Monday morning, and even to look back on at the end of the year to recap on just how much your potato head mascot got up to this school year!
8. Requesting
Keep all of the accessories for the potato heads, and provide your students with just an empty potato head. Students need to request – this can be done verbally or using symbols, or an AAC device – to have them working on their communication and requesting skills.
9. Clothes Shop
Set up a little Potato Head clothes shop. Have your students purchase different clothing and accessories to use to decorate their potato head. This is another great way to not only work on dramatic play skills, communication and requesting, but also money recognition skills.
10. Dressing For..
Provide your students with different scenario tags to dress the potato heads in.. It could be weather, or an event that they’re going to. Let students think about appropriate clothing and accessories for what the scenario is.
Do you use potato heads with your students? What activities do you use with them? Leave a comment below to share with me and all our readers!
Nikki
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