Looking for a way to inject some fun into snack time? Get artistic with your food, and create some fun berry paintings. It’s all right to play with your food in this sweet summer activity!
Berry painting is a great activity for children who are old enough to eat berries — I love to use this activity with one year-olds, but preschoolers and older will also enjoy making art with berries. You can use fresh berries in the summer, or frozen berries any time of year. (And if you have any berry farms nearby, may I suggest taking your kiddos to pick berries this summer? It’s a great activity for little ones — they get to eat while they pick, help contribute to the family food, and see where berries come from.)
Berry juice makes a pretty, translucent paint, similar to watercolor. I love to see little fingerprints and finger swipes of berry juice on these paintings!
What You Need for Berry Painting:
- Paper: card stock, watercolor paper, or plain white paper
- Berries, frozen or fresh: Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.
- (Optional): A plastic tablecloth or newspaper to cover your work surface
- (Optional): Smock or old t-shirt
Note: This is a semi-messy activity, and your child will probably get berry-stained hands, face. Wear an old t-shirt (or a dark t-shirt), or a smock.
Make a Berry Painting:
1. If the child uses a highchair, just put the paper down on the highchair tray. If not, protect work surface with newspaper or a plastic tablecloth.
2. Give child a piece of paper. Card stock in white or light colors are a good choice, or textured watercolor paper makes a great surface. You can also use plain white copy paper.
3. Bring on the berries: Put a pile of berries (fresh or frozen) directly on the paper.
4. As child eats the berries, the juice (and her fingers!) will transfer berry juice to the paper surface, creating a pretty painting.
5. Older children can hold a berry (especially a sturdy berry like a frozen blueberry) like a crayon and “draw” with it.
6. Children can also finger paint with the berry juice.
Don’t forget to eat some berries while you’re painting!
Once the painting is complete, allow the juice to dry. Then put your new abstract art into a frame! I taped our painting onto the paper insert that came with our frame, then popped it under the art mat.
Now you have a great new abstract art piece, made by your kiddo!
Heather Mann is the mother of four boys, and is constantly on the lookout for fun games, activities, and recipes to keep her busy boys, well, busy. She designs and shares clever crafts with a frugal twist at her site Dollar Store Crafts and ideas for being the best mom ever (on a budget) at Dollar Store Mom.
