You may have heard of the Storybook Pumpkin Patch, but have you heard of a Storybook Potato Patch?

Thanks to the ideas I got from from Cari Young on her blog, Library Learners at  https://librarylearners.com/storybook-pumpkin-patch-time/, I’ve done a Storybook Pumpkin Patch for the past 6 years in the library with my students.  The kids, parents, and faculty always have a great time, it’s a great way to get kids excited about books.  You can read more about that on my blog here and here.

This year, thanks to this hilarious book called Potato Pants by Laurie Keller, I’ve decided to change things up a bit and offer my students the option to do a Storybook Potato Patch this year!

After reading the book this summer, an inspirational idea hit me!  What if we did a Storybook Potato Patch instead of a Pumpkin Patch?  Or maybe in conjunction WITH the pumpkin patch? So I decided to read the book at the beginning of October, and share the idea with my students.  Then they could decide whether they wanted to do a Pumpkin or Potato Storybook character.  So I quickly created a planning sheet for them in case they wanted to go forth on this new adventure!

The reaction I got was pretty exciting, and quite a few students went straight to the Storybook Potato Patch planning sheet.  I overheard some students talking about doing a combination of a pumpkins and potatoes!  For example, one student wanted to do a pumpkin “elephant” and a potato “piggy” for one of the Elephant and Piggy books by Mo Willems!   I have a feeling this year’s Storybook Pumpkin Patch is going to be quite creative and diverse!

So, since interest is high, I went ahead and created all the forms I would need for a Storybook Potato Patch!   I made a blank potato paper that I copied on white cardstock for those kids who aren’t able to buy a potato.  (I copied it double-sided with the blank pumpkin paper.)  I also have a bag of supplies available if they need it (crayons, markers, glue, scissors, and an assortment of construction paper.)

Then I created a flyer to send home with our students with the entry form on the back.

If you’d like to start your own Storybook Potato Patch, you can find everything you need here at my TpT store!

Here’s what I did:

Send home the letter around mid-October to give kids plenty of time to find a potato (or pumpkin), select a storybook character, and create their masterpiece.  (I had them bring in their potatoes the week before Halloween, and I set them up according to grade level.)

On Thursday,  I invite teachers to stop by after school to vote for their favorite and most creative potato (or pumpkin) in each grade level.  I try to give everyone who participated a cool Halloween pencil as a way of saying, “Thanks!”, and the winners received a $5.00 coupon to go shopping at our Fall Book Fair in November.   (Check out Target’s dollar isle in October and you can get LOTS of October themed pencils for cheap!)  Winners were announced on Friday morning, and everyone picked up their potatoes/pumpkins to take home before the weekend.

If you haven’t done your own Storybook Pumpkin or Potato Patch,  I DEFINITELY recommend doing it next year.  The kids will have a BLAST, and are amazingly creative with their storybook characters!  Check back soon as I’ll add picture of our new Potato Characters that show up in our Storybook Patch!

Hope you find this useful!