To opt out of this World Book Day homework?

[TuscanMum]

School have set a whole school, World Book Day homework of making a potato into your favourite book character.

I then have to pay the school a £1 for the fact I did the homework.

My son is 4 and will not be able to do this!

I’ve decided to opt out of homework for parents and only do the actual homework for the children.

AIBU

Only a few months in and I’m fed up with the endless dress up days, requests for money, sponsorship requests, fundraising,

Get him to scribble over it and do mr messy
paint it blue and wrap masking tape around it (mr bump)
draw some eyes, stick some plasters on (humpty dumpty)
draw a mask on it, stick a paper cape on (supertato)

The teachers wont be expecting a work on van Gogh so you dont have to do much at all, Your son will probably enjoy doing it (of course if HE doesnt want to do it then I wouldnt force him)

I hate the thought of wasting food.... we have an easter homework to decorate a boiled egg.... I am going to find an egg shaped polystyrene thing instead, I know my children and they will hate to throw away their masterpieces and i'll end up with stinky month old boiled eggs in random places around the house!!!

The £1 will go towards school funds. Ours goes to the PTA and they give so much to each class every year for trips, they also buy new books for the library, equipment for the rooms, art stuff.... its a small amount to give but it helps the school a LOT!

Mr potato head from Toy Story but with his parts all fallen out!

The one who suggested Harry Potter surely meant Harry Potato

I agree that the class teacher definitely doesn't want you to do the work. It's always very obvious when kids come in with work done by their parent, and if it's a competition etc I know we always like to ensure that the parent work doesn't beat genuine child work.

Let your child do it. If it ends up as a scribbled lump, so be it. It's much more authentic.

Just let your 4 year old draw on a potato. It’s not hard. Not. At. All.

“Draw a scar and glasses and send it in as Harry Potter
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No I think she’s just playing the Harry Potter ace. As must we all sometimes.

Seriously op, the to this is to pass responsibility for sourcing stuff to child.

We did this last year. Wrapped potato in tin foil, drew a face on and hey presto you have the tin man from Wizard of Oz.

Send him in with nothing but a cupped hand - The Invisible Potato / Harry Potter under his invisibility cloak.

I think it’s a decent creative exercise to get your child thinking of what they could make. Surely a 4 yr old can draw in and stick some material/googly eyes on a potato?
It doesn’t need to look like the examples so no need for you to do it. The teachers will hopefully appreciate the ones clearly made by the children. Although the Easter egg competition is looming at my kids school and every year the winner is the ‘best’ one that clearly hasn’t had any input from the the child whatsoever.

Stick orange wool on it to make Mr Messy

Paint it yellow and turn it into an emoji

Paint it white, draw sunglasses and it's the Stig

The school won't be expecting Pinterest but primary schools cater for up to age 11 who could get closer to Pinterest standard than a 4 year old.

Paint it black, stick in 8 cocktail sticks and you have a spider. You can buy googley eye stickers

Why does it cost a £1?

Our school is doing this, except it's closed today so the tatties are all dressed up with nowhere to go. We have one Harry Potter (drawn on scar and glasses, googly eyes, black wool hair) and one Dumbledore (basically a potato in a nest of cotton wool with google eyes!) It was instead of the dressing up which parents all moaned about. I can't see how decorating a potato is so difficult. I have always just let the kids do that kind of thing - so their rainforest in a box is a lot messier and more simple than the perfect craft submitted by some other parents children, so what?