With summer holidays fast approaching, keeping kids occupied at home is a big task in itself. You really don’t need to go buy expensive toys or gadgets to keep them busy. And if you worry that kids will end up spending the whole day in front of that idiot box. Fear not! I have some simple stuff for you to make & do with your kids

Cook it Involving kids in easy cooking recipes teaches them basic life skills at the same time making it fun. Most kids love to eat stuff that they make and it creates a sense of achievement. Potatoes are healthy vegetables and are an excellent source of vitamin C, B6, potassium, high in essential carbs and tasty! Bake baby potatoes in their jacket after poking them lightly with a fork and slightly coating them with olive oil. Involve your child in each step and encourage them to help.

Learn with it Keep children busy counting potatoes, sorting them based on their sizes, Have them sit facing each other and then roll potatoes between them.. while one does addition and the other subtracts their potato count. Its more fun when due to their uneven shapes potatoes roll all over the place.

Play with it Hot potato is a game very similar to pass the parcel. Pack a potato in a sock and have all kids sit around in a circle. Its a great game to involve the neighborhood kids too. Put on some groovy music and pass the sock potato around imagining its a hot potato and cant be held in one’s hands for a very long time as its very very hot, you see?

Grow plants in it Old Potatoes serve as excellent planters. When potatoes are sprouting or have turned green it is best to not eat them. Scoop out some of the potato digging a hole leaving just a small opening .. add a mixture of 2/3 seeds and some soil to it.  Place it in an unused plastic container at your window sill and add few drops of water everyday and watch the plant sprout after a week or so.

Craft with it You can make a potato face using stuff available in the kitchen. Use carrots for ears, parsley for hair, cloves for eyes. Let their imaginations run wild. Fashion your own stamps from a potato – make shapes, numbers, alphabet letters or any other design you like.   Here is a list of crafts that we have done using potatoes