Tuesday, March 1, 2016

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Carrot Painting Pre-Writing Practice

Pre-writing activities help your preschoolers and toddlers learn to hold a pencil correctly and develop the strength they will need to be writing soon.  This carrot painting pre-writing practice is a little silly and a little serious as your kiddos paint their own "gardens" with a baby carrot!



The Virtual Book Club book of the month is The Tales of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, so our pre-writing activity is garden themed in honor of Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor's garden!

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In addition to being a fun garden-themed, spring-y pre-writing activity, this carrot painting can also be open-ended process art!  Of course, some kiddos will want to make their "garden" look like a garden (especially if you read the book first), but some will not.  And that's okay.  Either way, you will get some great pre-writing practice!

You can also use this pre-writing exercise to talk about colors and color mixing!




I like to use baby carrots to encourage the kids to strengthen the muscles they will need to hold a pencil correctly.  The short carrot makes it difficult (though not impossible for really little hands!) to get too many fingers on the carrot pencil.  This is why some occupational therapists and handwriting specialists will use short pencils or broken crayons for their students--it forces the thumb and forefinger to do the work of holding the pencil (er...carrot)!



To set up your own carrot painting pre-writing practice, all you need is paint, baby carrots, and paper!  Read The Tales of Peter Rabbit, gather at the table with the art supplies, and let your kiddos get busy!



I like to turn on classical music while they work too.



The Tales of Peter Rabbit is the Virtual Book Club's March book!


Be sure to check out all these Peter Rabbit-themed activities!  You can build a whole unit every month around VBC fun!

Bunny Color Sorting by Toddler Approved
Name Tracing Rabbit Fun by The Educators' Spin On it 
Peter Rabbit Sensory Bin by Still Playing School
Feed the Rabbit Activity by Mom Inspired Life
Peter Rabbit Paper Plate Pop-Up Garden by I Can Teach My Child
Bunny Treat Bags by Mama Miss
Bunny Cracker Snack by The Pleasantest Thing




I may share at any of these parties!



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1 comments:

Trisha @ Inspiration Laboratories said...

Using the carrots is a brilliant idea!