Scroll down to the bottom for printable instructions!
We are from the Pacific Northwest. I think my older kids consider themselves to be Oregonians more than they do Coloradans. My oldest 3 feel that their childhoods were spent in the PNW rambling through forests, picking wild blackberries, heading to the coast whenever we wanted, driving along the Columbia River on our way to Costco with constant views of Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Ranier.
One of our favorite traditions was attending the Oregon Agricultural Festival every April at the Oregon State Fair Grounds in Salem. We looked forward to Ag Fest every year! Good food! Farm animals with 4H on show! Many activities that were educational and fun!
Our favorite MUST DO every year was Dirt Babies! We LOVED the Dirt Baby booth. They were free to make and fun to bring home and leave on the kitchen window sill all summer long.
We recently made them together at a family gathering will the grandkids and cousins together. May is a GREAT time to make a dirt baby.
For the project you will need –
- Scissors
- Nude nylon knee highs
- Grass seed
- Planting soil
- Pipe cleaners
- Googly eyes
- Glue gun
- Glue sticks – Make sure they are the right size for your glue gun.
- A cup for them to sit in – My favorite cups to have on hand. The perfect size for kids especially.
Put some grass seed in the nylon. Then 2-3 cups of soil. Work it down between each scoop and form into a tight ball. Then tie a knot right up against the soil to hold its shape. Trim the tail to 2-3 inches long.
Next, choose some eyes and pipe cleaners out. Make a plan for the face. Use scissors to cut the pipe cleaners down to size as needed.
Now fill a cup with water about halfway, high enough for the nylon tail to reach it. Then sit the dirt baby on top of the cup with the tail in the water. Set it on a window sill and start checking for sprouts of grass/hair every day.
Throughout the summer make sure they have water, and trim their hair as needed.
Dirt Babies
Equipment
- Nude Knee High nylons
- googly eyes
- pipe cleaners
- glue gun
- glue sticks for glue gun
Ingredients
- grass seed
- soil
Instructions
- Put a couple Tablespoons of grass seed into the bottom of nylon knee high.
- Measure about 3 cups of soil into the knee high on top of the grass seed. This is easier with two people. One to hold and stretch open the nylon and one to measure and dump in the soil. Measure in one cup at a time. Work it down to the bottom before adding another cup.
- Tie a knot in the nylon right up tight against the soil. Trim the tail to a couple inches long.
- Carefully use a hot glue gun to decorate and make face on the front of the baby with the grass seed at the top and the tail at the bottom.
- Choose a cup or glass with a rim more narrow the body of the dirt baby so the baby sits on top of the cup without falling in.
- Fill the cup with water high enough the nylon tail can reach into it. Set the dirt baby on top of the cup with water. Set in the sun on a window sill. Watch and wait for the sprouts to appear within a week.
- Check often to make sure there is water. When the grass grows, trim the tops regularly. My kids love giving their dirt baby a haircut. They will last all Spring and Summer long.
We just attended yesterday and made 6 of these beauties!! One of the most anticipated activities of the whole festival for our kiddos, right behind petting animals!