At OMO, we believe that every stain represents an important experience - mud stains are the stamp of adventure, grass stains are the sign of exploration and fruit stains are the aftermath of discovery. Encourage your kids to get messy with our fun activities for happy, healthy, confident kids. We'll be there to sort out the dirty clothes afterwards.
Stamp it Out
Talk to your child about healthy foods while you create a flower garden picture with stamps made from food.
What you’ll need:
What to do:
Cut the apple in half from the top. Cut the lemon in half sideways. Cut the celery at the base, not too close to the root.
Cut the potato in half lengthways. Use the knife to carve a basic stem and leaf shape out of the potato. The areas left raised will pick up paint, while areas carved away will stay blank. Try out different techniques to get different plant and leaf shapes.
Lay out different coloured paints in saucers. Show your child how to dip the fruits and vegetables into the paints and then press them gently on to their paper to make a stamp. Help your child to compose a picture of flowers and trees using the various stamps. The celery stamps look like roses, and apple and lemon stamps make good treetops. Your child can use their fingers to paint in details like trunks, stems and branches.
While you’re painting, talk to your child about the different fruits and vegetables you’re working with, and about other fruits and veg that your family eats. Talk about how important it is to eat at least five portions of fruit or veg a day to stay healthy.
Alternative Materials:
Change it up:
Make it easy: Cut out easy shapes from potato for your child to stamp or use actual leaves and flowers to make parts of the garden picture.
Make it a challenge: Allow your child to carefully cut out a leaf shape from a potato to make their own stamp. Ask your child to identify which are fruits and which are vegetables. Discuss the differences between fruits and vegetables.
Play with friends: Friends can work together to make one large picture or create individual pictures.
Indoor play: Lay down an old sheet or newspaper for your child to work on if you’re doing this activity indoors.
Developmental areas:
Fine motor skills
Concepts – shapes
Concepts - size
Problem solving
Values:
Understanding the importance of personal health; love of nature; self-respect; empathy.