Decorate a plant pot

How long will it take?

The painting takes little time (10 to 15 minutes). Plan something to occupy the children during the drying time (the first coat shouldn't take long - probably the time it will take to clean the brush with them. The decoration will take longer and depend on the paint you use).

What you will need

• new terracotta plant pot of any size
• emulsion paint in a range of colours - at least two
• wide and thin paint brushes

Step-by-step guide

1 Cover your work surface with old newspaper, and ensure your children are wearing old clothes or a painting apron.

2 Now they're ready to paint their pot with a base coat of emulsion. They don't need to paint the base, and only need to paint inside down to the bottom of the rim. Then they can stand it on an old coffee jar lid to dry. Wash their brush and let this dry too.

3 When they've decided how they are going to decorate the pot, they can paint it on with the thin brush. They can paint spots or stripes, flowers, a face, or even some ladybirds! Tell them to let their imagination go wild or try some of our design suggestions below.

4 If they are using more than one colour for their decoration, they need to let the paint dry between each colour.

Tips and advice

• Always try to use water-based emulsion paint for this project, as it's very easy to clear up, and it dries quickly.
• Your children will probably be tempted to paint everything at once. Avoid this. Wet paints will run together and make a mess!
• Talk about the design with your children before they start, then let them get on with it. Just ensure they have the right amount of paint on their brush - neither too much nor too little.

Face design

What you will need

• terracotta pot and dish, painted white
• paintbrushes
• coloured paints
• kitchen knife
• plain paper
• scissors
• pencil
• potatoes

Step-by-step guide

1 Ask the children to apply two coats of light-coloured paint on to a prepared terracotta pot, allowing time between each coat for drying.

2 Next they should draw a face design on paper and cut it out, ensuring it's the right size for the pot.

3 They can lay the paper design on to a cut potato and use it as a guide for cutting the shapes in the potato. You may need to help the children with this. They should peel the paper off when finished.

4 Get the children to dip the potato shapes in paint, then print on a piece of scrap paper as a test before printing their face on the pot.

Tips and advice

• Faces are an ideal subject for painted pots, as the children can create wild hairstyles with whatever plant they choose to plant in them.
• The straggly leaves of Isolepis cernua make a great hair substitute on a pot. Keep it on a bright windowsill, but always keep the compost moist and feed it during the summer.
• If the children are going to give the pots away, they could have a go at drawing the portrait of the person they are going to give it to!

Star design

What you will need

• terracotta pot
• gold and blue paint
• coloured paints
• paintbrushes
• plain paper
• scissors
• pencil
• reusable adhesive

Step-by-step guide

1 The children need to apply one coat of gold paint, then leave it to dry.

2 Ask them to draw star shapes on plain paper and cut them out. Ensure they have enough to cover the whole pot.

3 They should position paper stars on the pot using reusable adhesive and apply blue paint to all the gaps in between the paper stars. And then leave to dry.

4 Next they can gently remove paper cut-outs to reveal gold stars shining in a blue sky.

5 If they dab a little gold paint on top of the blue using a dry, stiff brush, it will create a stippled effect.

Desert design

What you will need

• terracotta pot, painted white
• paintbrushes
• pencil
• yellow, orange, blue and green paint

Step-by-step guide

1 Get the children to draw a desert design on a prepared terracotta pot with a pencil.

2 Following their pencil lines, they should paint in the design with coloured paint and leave to dry. They can touch up any mistakes using a small brush.

Tips and advice

• A desert pot will set off a cactus perfectly. Keep the plant on the coolest windowsill possible. Water sparingly between November and March, then treat as any other houseplant.
• Watch those thorns when potting up. Use a folded newspaper wrapped around the cactus when picking it up.
• Find out more about cacti and succulents in our Did you know article? Or make a prickly garden with another of our homegrown projects.