You may have tried potato printing, but have you ever printed with an apple? This is a perfect activity for kids this Christmas, & a great way to use up old apples which are past their best.
The great thing about this simple printing activity is the magic surprise inside the apple. Before you cut the apple you could invite the children to guess what shape is inside the fruit. Once you cut the apple in half (across the middle of the fruit) a star will be revealed!
Before printing we pressed the apple over a sheet of kitchen towel to remove some of the moisture, as she did this Minnie noticed the 'star' in the middle of the apple, & was keen to know how it got there!! This was a great opportunity to talk about seeds, the apple core, water, nutrients, growth, & where our food comes from etc, but finished up with Minnie wanting to plant the seeds and grow her own apple trees! :-)
Then with just a little red paint on a saucer, she dabbed & swirled the apple in the paint before adding it to the paper.
We still had our star cookie cutters on the side & Minnie was eager to use them on the apple. She managed to match the star cookie cutter to the 'star' shape in the apple, & cut out her shape (with a little help from me to apply the pressure).
Then with a little paint she created these lovely patterns!
I know what we'll be using for wrapping paper this Christmas! ;-) I think we'll have a go at printing silver/white stars on a navy/black paper next, what a neat night sky that would make!
A simple activity which could help develop shape recognition, motor skills, colour recognition, numeracy, creativity, & an interest in nature.
For more Star activities check out Star Play Dough, Headbands, Spinners & More!