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Growing Hands-On Kids

Growing Hands-On Kids

Child Development Tips, Tools, and Strategies

You are here: Home / Hands-On Activities / V is for Vegetable Painting Sensory Play

V is for Vegetable Painting Sensory Play

April 16, 2015 By Heather Greutman 2 Comments

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Over at Multi-Crafting Mummy you will find lots of arts, crafts and messy play inspiration for toddlers, plus lots of project ideas for them to enjoy alongside their elder siblings as well. We are delighted to be taking part in this fantastic series and today we are sharing our activity for the letter V in the A-Z of Sensory Play for kids.

A really fun vegetable paining sensory play activity. www.GoldenReflectionsBlog.com

Our favourite arts and crafts activity has to be painting. My nearly 3 year old daughter Little Miss B is especially keen on it and this is an activity we do a lot together. She tends to get very hands on (or more accurately hands in!) during our activities, so what starts out as a simple painting activity often turns into a full on sensory play experience, as you will see during the activity that we are sharing with you.

Vegetable Painting Activity

An old classic from my own childhood, vegetable painting has stood the test of time and is still a firm favourite with toddlers today. We used carrot, parsnip, potato, broccoli and asparagus for our activity, but you can use any vegetables you have left over at home.

vegetable painting sensory play items

Some vegetables can be a bit tricky for little fingers to get a good grasp of, so to make this activity a bit more toddler friendly, I cut a small incision into the centre of some of the vegetables and placed a popsicle stick into it for easy toddler gripping.

vegetable painting sensory play fun

I then laid out a sheet of paper and squeezed a selection of paints into a tray and sat down alongside her to see what she was going to create. I believe it’s very important to give toddlers plenty of freedom to express themselves and explore the materials supplied. The overall quality of the actual paintings should always be secondary and having fun and getting messy should always come first.

vegetable painting sensory play fun

Little Miss B began the activity in a civilized fashion simply dipping her vegetables into the paint and stamping them on the paper. She then started to smear them across the paper to make “rainbows”.

vegetable painting sensory play fun

She then decided to make things a little more interesting. I had set out a brush to use to paint the asparagus with and alongside it I had put a cup of water to wash the brush out in. Little Miss B though has more exciting plans for the pot of water. She decided to try and clean her paint covered vegetables in it, which is quite clever when you think about it. But then instead of dipping them back into the paint and carrying on, she decided to shake and stamp water all over her picture.

vegetable painting sensory play fun

Then came the hands in part of the activity! She decided to “wash” her hands in the pot of water and then paint over them with the remaining paint before splatting them all over her paper.

vegetable painting sensory play fun

Luckily I had plenty of paper towels on hand and a bowl of (clean!) warm soapy water to clean up her up properly after she had finished her “masterpieces”.

vegetable painting sensory play fun

If you’ve enjoyed reading about this activity you might also be interested in our:

  • Baa Baa Sponge Painting Activity
  • Bubble wrap Jellyfish Collage
  • Pretend Toddler Baking with waterbeads and shaving foam 

And be sure to follow Multi-Crafting Mummy on Social Media:

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For more sensory play activity ideas, be sure to follow my Sensory Fun Pinterest board and the A-Z's of Sensory Play for Kids series.

Follow Heather @ Golden Reflections Blog's board Sensory Fun on Pinterest.

A-Z's of Sensory Play Ideas for Kids Series. www.GoldenReflectionsBlog.com

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Filed Under: Hands-On Activities Tagged With: Fine Motor, For Parents, Preschool 3-5, Sensory

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CONTENT DISCLAIMER: Heather Greutman is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. All information on the Website is for informational purposes only and is not a replacement for medical advice from a physician or your pediatrician. Please consult with a medical professional if you suspect any medical or developmental issues with your child. The information on the Websites does not replace the relationship between therapist and client in a one-on-one treatment session with an individualized treatment plan based on their professional evaluation. The information provided on the Website is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied. Do not rely on the information on the Website as an alternative to advice from your medical professional or healthcare provider. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment as a result of any information provided on the Website. All medical information on the Website is for informational purposes only. All activities outlined on the Website are designed for completion with adult supervision. Please use your own judgment with your child and do not provide objects that could pose a choking hazard to young children. Never leave a child unattended during these activities. Please be aware of and follow all age recommendations on all products used in these activities. Growing Hands-On Kids is not liable for any injury when replicating any of the activities found on this blog. YOUR RESPONSIBILITY The Website was developed strictly for informational purposes. You understand and agree that you are fully responsible for your use of the information provided on the Website. Growing Hands-On Kids makes no representations, warranties or guarantees. You understand that results may vary from person to person. Growing Hands-On Kids assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions that may appear in the Website.

Comments

  1. Nicola - Multicraftingmummy says

    April 16, 2015 at 5:46 am

    It’s great to be part of such a great series! Thanks for the opportunity to work with you on this.

    Reply
    • Heather Greutman says

      April 19, 2015 at 10:06 pm

      You are very welcome Nicola, thank you for participating!

      Reply

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Welcome to Growing Hands-On Kids! My name is Heather and I’m a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant with experience in school-based Occupational Therapy. I use my background to share child development tips, tools, and strategies through hands-on activities. You can read more about me by clicking here.

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