Produce Painting

Activity Overview

It’s time to get creative with our food scraps! What better way to upcycle discarded produce parts than by turning them into different-sized painting tools that offer various ways to work on our grasping motor function. There may be some problem-solving involved as well if the surfaces of the produce stamps aren’t entirely flat. Explore the produce pieces using all five senses - see, smell, hear, touch, and taste. Clean, edible parts of the food can be tasted before, during, or after the activity. While your student is exploring the produce pieces, ask them questions to engage them in describing their observations.

What You Need

• A variety of leftover vegetable and fruit scraps to be used as painting tools. Some suggestions are:

  • Carrot tops

  • Broccoli or cauliflower stems

  • Potato or squash ends

  • Apple cores

  • Banana peels

  • Avocado peels

• Washable paints

• A paint receptacle like a palette or a plate

• Thick paper

Steps

1. Pour a small amount of washable paint onto a paint-safe receptacle such as a paint palette or a plate (start small and add as needed).

2. Start by exploring the attributes of the produce items. Ask guiding questions to promote an attitude of inquiry and curiosity.

3. Explore using the produce pieces as stamps by dipping them into the paint and then onto the paper. Allow the student to freely explore for some time. Don’t be afraid to layer colors and shapes!

4. Engage the student in dialogue about the work they are creating. Encourage them to explain how different produce pieces create different images on paper.

Guiding Questions

• What is it?

• What color is it?

• How does it smell?

• How does it feel? Is it smooth, rough, bumpy, scratchy?

• How does it taste?

• Do you like eating it?

• What produce pieces are you using?

• What colors are you using?

• What shapes are you creating on the paper?

Extensions

• Use the produce stampers to paint a picture. If preferred, a grown-up can help add words to the painting when the child is finished

• Examine what happens when using different techniques: a little paint vs. a lot of paint, applying more pressure vs. less pressure, using different types of strokes to move the pieces across the paper.

• Paint only on half of the paper, then fold it over once the student is finished to explore the concept of symmetry. Does it make a new picture?

• For older students, use the Produce Painting Recording Sheet to write a sentence or descriptive list, describing what your garden would be like (a grown-up can provide the word written in highlighter for the student to copy on top of, or lines to designate each letter in a word).

• For older students, use this list of more challenging questions:

  • What is the same? What is different?

  • Which produce items are hard? Which are softer? Why are they different?

  • Can you sort them by color? Why are they different colors?

  • What do they taste like when you eat them? How do these qualities relate to how they taste?

  • How do plants grow?

  • How do these items look when they are growing? Are they the root of a plant? Are they the flower, leaf, or a stem? Do they grow on trees? Bushes?

  • How are these qualities related to how the plant grows?

  • What tools were selected for which colors?