Animal Planters

Materials

plastic bottles (2-liter, large juice bottles, etc.)
scissors
soil
plants

You'll want to let your kids embellish their bottles using all sorts of craft materials. Here are some suggestions (figure A):

felt
fake fur
foam
plastic eyes
pipe cleaners
pom-poms
bottle corks, film canisters, and small terra-cotta pots for legs
paint

Step 1: Preparation

This project begins in the recycling bin. Take a plastic bottle--the larger the better for younger children--and cut a hole into the side (figure B). This will be the top of the container. Puncture drainage holes into the bottom (the opposite side of the opening you just made).

Step 2: Decorate the container

To get started, have the kids pick out felt for decorating their animals (figure C). They can cover the whole bottle or just cut out circles and fun shapes. Since a glue gun is going to work best for attaching the felt or any of the body parts like eyes, legs or tails to the container, it's always a good idea to have adult supervision. Then the kids can focus their time and attention on being really creative.

Step 3: Planting the flowers