A fun toddler arts and crafts project that doubles as a sensory activity: Your little ones will use celery to stamp and paint flowers! This Celery Sensory Activity is a GREAT way to expose babies and toddlers to new vegetables!
This celery stamping activity is great because it takes almost no time to set up, and your kids can play with it independently for a while... or be done with it in 5 minutes if their attention span is not great.
Sensory Play With Food
If you're new here, this blog is about helping parents of toddlers overcome picky eating issues. Our son refused to try new foods for years, ever since he was a baby, so our feeding therapist recommended lots of sensory play, as well as lots of exposure to new foods in a no-pressure, fun way.
So we got creative and did LOTS of sensory activities with my son! He helped me cook with vegetables (check out these Mini Broccoli Quesadillas) and I was always setting up sensory activities for him (check out my 52 Weeks of Sensory - one sensory activity for every week of the year).
And after consistent sensory play, especially sensory play with food, we saw our son being open to trying new foods and learning to accept new food textures!
So one day when I was chopping celery for dinner, I came up with an awesome celery sensory activity: Celery Stamping!!
And after a few times that we exposed our son to celery in a fun, no-pressure way, he actually tried and ate celery!! If we have simple put celery on his plate during dinner, there is no way he would want to give it a try! But playing with celery beforehand and seeing that it's not scary, or weird, or intimidating gave our picky eater the son the confidence the take a bite.
So trust me, sensory food play for picky eaters is a great idea!!
More ways to play with your food: Picky Eating Dice Game for Kids
Supplies
- 1-2 bunches of celery, preferably with leaves on
- Finger paint + paper plates or bowls to hold the paint
- Paper or cardstock
You'll also need a knife to cut the celery and some kind of surface to set up this activity that you don't mind getting dirty. I recommend a plastic table cloth over your table!
Check out more ideas for ways to play with veggies and food here: 20 Rainbow Activities for Preschoolers
Instructions
Cut the celery bunch in a nice clean line a few inches from the bottom. It should have a pretty flower pattern if you look at the cut part.
Have your child dip the celery into paint and print flowers onto paper or cardstock.
Optional: dip the leaves into the paint and use them as paintbrushes, or paint the cut celery sticks and press them into the paper to print a straight line - this can be the flower stem!
Super simple!!
Celery Sensory Activity
A fun and simple stamping activity for toddlers that doubles as sensory food play. See what kind of fun designs your child can come up with by doing this celery stamping activity!
Materials
- 1-2 bunches of celery, preferably with leaves on
- Finger paint + paper plates or bowls to hold the paint
- Paper or cardstock
Tools
- Kitchen knife
- Plastic table cloth or other surface you don't mind getting dirty
Instructions
- Cut the celery bunch in a nice clean line a few inches from the bottom. It should have a pretty flower pattern if you look at the cut part.
- Have your child dip the celery into paint and print flowers onto paper or cardstock.
- Optional: dip the leaves into the paint and use them as paintbrushes, or paint the cut celery sticks and press them into the paper to print a straight line - this can be the flower stem!
Notes
Never pressure your child to get messy or do sensory play if they are not comfortable! It's better to leave an activity unfinished than to have them dread doing sensory activities with you.
Did you enjoy this easy sensory activity? Share it with a friend, and make sure to save it for later on Pinterest!
