Creating concrete toadstools to enrich a child’s environment is fun and easy to do with basic tools and materials. Toadstools can be placed in groups to create mini-environments or installed throughout a space creating moments of discovery. Items such as these exemplify one of many ways to enrich a child’s environment with art and imagination.

Forrest Greenslade, a local artist in Chapel Hill, NC, who leads workshops on making artistic outdoor art, describes the process for making concrete artwork.

Steps:

1. After digging a hole in the ground roughly the shape of the toadstool cap, line the hole with heavy-duty plastic.
2. Mix concrete in buckets, and pour into prepared holes.
3. Pouring the concrete into the holes for the toadstool caps.
4. Smoothing out what will be the bottom of the toadstool caps.
5. Place the toadstool stems into the wet concrete. Use stout logs/branches from a wood with high decay resistance, such as Eastern Redcedar.
6. After curing for at least 24 hours, remove the concrete toadstools from their holes and remove plastic lining. Toadstool caps can be embeded with objects for added texture and variation.