1. Veggie Art
This is a wonderful activity for all skill levels. I have done this with very young children as well as with my older groups and they all love it.
You Will Need:
- Raw vegetables such as carrots, celery, potatoes and Β peppers, corn.
- Colorful paints
- Drawing Paper
For the younger children, I precut the vegetables however with the older groups, I like to have them cut the vegetables so they practice daily life skills. Dry them off with paper towels. Let children dip the vegetables in paint and stamp them unto paper. Simple, yet beautiful.Β
This is a great way to introduce foods to picky eaters because the first step is for them to look at the vegetable as a non-threatening item and to then interact/ play with it!
2. Salt Painting
Salt Painting is a great activity for children that challenges many fine motor skills. Some children wanted to create there own design with glue while others followed a pattern already drawn.
You Will Need:
- White Glue
- Thick drawing paper
- Salt
- Paints or food coloring diluted in water.
Have children use a pencil to draw on drawing paper. You can also provide them with a drawing if it’s too difficult for them to draw.
Children then have to squeeze the glue following the drawing/pattern. This takes strength, motor planning and finger control.
They then shake salt on the wet glue and paint using watered down paint/food coloring with a paintbrush. The challenge here is the graded hand control. The just right amount of pressure needs to be used during this type of painting otherwise it can ruin it.
These look great however they are a mess to keep. Once thy dry, the salt cracks off. We took pictures of our final products and framed them instead.