Potato characters for World Book Day

There's not long to go until it's World Book Day...rather than dressing up, why not decorate a potato as your favourite character. 

They're super easy to make and you can transfer a plain potato into almost any character you like. 

We've made Mr Bump and Winnie the Pooh, but others to make could be Harry Potter, Peter Rabbit or The BFG! 

What you'll need: 

• A potato - try to pick one with a smooth surface and not too soft
• Paints
• Felt
• Colouring pens
• Googly eyes (optional)
• Pipe cleaners
• Glue
• Pom poms

What to do: 

1. First, make sure your potato is clean - just a quick wash and dry will do, so there's no dirt stuck to it. 
2. Make sure you cover your work surface with some scrap paper, so you don't get paint on it. 

To make Mr Bump: 

1. Paint your potato in a nice blue colour - make sure you get the paint into all the little holes. You might need to give it a couple of coats of paint if it doesn't cover the potato completely first time around. 
2. Leave to dry. 
3. Whilst your potato is drying, cut some strips of white felt, making sure they wrap all the way around his body - these are going to be your bandages.  Don't worry if you haven't got any felt, you can always use paper or actual bandages instead! 
4. Once your potato is dry, wrap your 'bandages' around his head and body - you can go around as many times as you like and it doesn't matter if they overlap.
5. When you're happy with how your bandages look, stick the ends down with some glue.
6. Next, if you have googly eyes, stick these onto Mr Bump - don't worry if you haven't got these, grab yourself a black marker pen and draw some on...and of course a big smile! 
7. Finally, with some blue felt, cut out some hands - be careful though as this can be fiddly.  Glue these on to the sides so it looks like he's waving. 

To make Winnie the Pooh: 

1. Paint your potato in a bright yellow colour - make sure you get the paint into all the little holes. You might need to give it a couple of coats of paint if it doesn't cover the potato completely first time around. 
2. Leave to dry. 
3. Whilst your potato is drying, draw a big t-shirt shape onto some red felt and then cut it out carefully. This is going to be Winnie the Pooh's t-shirt.  Again, don't worry if you haven't got any felt, once your potato is dry, you can always use a bright red marker pen to draw your t-shirt straight onto his body. 
4. Stick your t-shirt onto your potato with glue. 
5. Grab a black marker pen and draw some eyes, nose and mouth straight onto the potato. 
6. Next, take two small yellow pom poms and stick these with your glue to the top of Winnie the Pooh's head - these are going to be his ears. 
7. Finally, curl two yellow pipe cleaners up into two little sticks - you can stick the ends straight into the side of the potato to make his arms.