Strawberries

Strawberries

Activities for toddlers and babies

Strawberries are impressive for little ones because of their bright red color and sweet taste. With strawberry season just around the corner, here are activities that can be enjoyed with your group.

Before we get started, here is a reminder about when it is safe to introduce strawberries depending on the ages of the children in your group:

• Cooked strawberries, puréed and sieved 9 months
• Raw strawberries, mashed 9 months
• Raw strawberries, quartered 12 months
• Raw strawberries, whole 24 months

AREA SETUP

Strawberry balloons
Inflate red balloons. Use a permanent marker to draw tiny black dots on the balloons to make them look like strawberries. Cut leaf shapes out of green construction paper and glue them at the tip of each balloon. Hang your strawberry balloons from the ceiling.

Special picture balloons
Hang red balloons from the ceiling and see the "Language activities" section for ideas of how to use them.

ROUTINES AND TRANSITIONS

Serve different strawberry snacks:

• Purchase strawberry yogurt tubes. Freeze them and cut them in half to make two small strawberry-flavoured treats with each tube.
• Make a strawberry-flavoured yogurt, chocolate, or whipped cream dip. Encourage children to dip fresh strawberries in the preparation.
• Combine yogurt, frozen strawberries, milk, and vanilla in a blender to prepare yummy smoothies.
• Make fruit and yogurt medallions by simply mixing yogurt and strawberries together and pouring the mixture in muffin cups. Set in the freezer until firm.
• Prepare strawberry-flavoured Jell-O.

SENSORY ACTIVITIES (smell)

Strawberry-scented hand soap and hand lotion
Help children wash their hands using strawberry-scented hand soap and apply strawberry-scented hand lotion afterwards. Encourage children to smell their hands and show them a picture of a strawberry at the same time.

Strawberry-scented candles
Deposit small strawberry-scented candles in plastic containers. Make holes in the lids. Let babies and toddlers explore these scented containers.

ARTS & CRAFTS

Strawberry Jell-O paint
Mix strawberry-flavoured Jell-O powder with a small amount of water to create paint with a grainy texture. Let babies and toddlers explore the texture, color, taste, and scent of this unique paint on heavy paper. Let their artwork dry before displaying it on a wall.

My textured strawberry
Print a nice strawberry illustration for each child. Glue them on heavy cardboard and cut them out. Give little ones the opportunity to explore a variety of textures. Provide various red items such as feathers, felt, tissue paper, yarn pieces, and fabric. Children will enjoy manipulating these items. Let them stick them on their strawberry as they see fit. If you wish, you may even add a small amount of red paint to your white glue. This special glue can also be used to paint your strawberry before applying the craft items.

MORAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

Encourage parents to participate
Involve parents by asking them to share their favorite strawberry recipes with you. Prepare the recipes and serve them for dessert or at snack time. If you wish, photocopy the recipes for each family.

Sweet strawberries
Pick a day and ask parents to dress their child in red clothing. They will look like sweet little strawberries. Variation: You may also ask parents to have their child wear a white sweater. Print several strawberry illustrations and use adhesive paper to stick a few strawberries on each child's sweater. With older toddlers, you may simply use strawberry-shaped stickers (as long as they are large enough to avoid choking hazards if children remove them).

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

Introduction to numbers and size
Have children sit at the table and cut strawberries in front of them to explore textures, size, and numbers with your group:

• Size: Give each child a whole strawberry and another strawberry that has been cut into tiny pieces.
• Numbers: Give each child a whole strawberry, a halved strawberry, and a sliced strawberry.
• Texture: Give each child a whole strawberry to bite into, a mashed strawberry in a plate, and a strawberry cut into small pieces.

Throughout the activity, explore the following words: big/small, one/two/three, soft/hard, sweet, and red.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND MOTOR SKILLS

Strawberry picking
If possible, visit a strawberry patch with your group. Show children how strawberries grow. Pick and eat strawberries with older toddlers. Invite parents to accompany you for this outing, especially with very young children who cannot walk yet. Remember to take several pictures.

Strawberry modeling dough (fine motor skills)
Purchase strawberry-scented modeling dough or simply use pink or red modeling dough. Variation: For toddlers, print and laminate small strawberry illustrations and stick them on tiny wooden sticks. Children will enjoy pricking them in the modeling dough (supervision required).

LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

Picture balloons
This idea is inspired by a language activity suggested by Maude Dubé. If you have already inflated and hung red balloons to decorate your daycare, simply print illustrations related to the strawberry theme such as a large strawberry, a basket full of strawberries, a strawberry someone has taken a bite out of, a strawberry dessert, etc. Use adhesive tape to stick the illustrations on the balloons. Sit on the floor with your group. Look at the balloons and name the different items. I love this activity since the balloons become a moving mobile.

Chantal Millette
Early childhood educator

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