During spring or over an Easter holidays, one of the favorite themes for toddlers and preschoolers is surely a bunny! And when we talk about bunnies, we can’t forget their favorite food – carrots! Carrot fine motor play is a super easy activity to set up and helps child with both small movements and hand-eye coordination.
When I spotted Gummi Carrot Candy, I knew immediately they would make a fantastic resource for fine motor skills. They were solid enough and the perfect size to pick up with fine motor tools. Using an egg carton, I was able to set up our Carrot Fine Motor Play activity within a couple of minutes.
What we used for carrot fine motor activity?
Here are supplies to prepare:
- gummi carrots
- egg carton from recycle bin
- Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set (find here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom)
- knife and skewer (adults only)
In case you can’t find gummi carrots, you can replace them with carrot mini erasers (find here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom).
How to Set Up a Pretend Play Carrot Field?
I placed a green dozen egg carton upside down and used a skewer to make holes in each section. I then made the holes slightly larger by pushing a knife into the hole and twisting the knife. Once I had 12 holes I pushed a Gummi carrot into each hole. Can you spot that my son found the Gummi carrots whilst I was setting up the activity so we were left with only 11 carrots!
Practice Fine Motor Skills through Play!
I gave my son a selection of fine motor tools to explore the Carrot Fine Motor Play activity. These included the Gator Grabber from our Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set, a purple Jumbo Tweezer and our CleverstiX, which are brilliant child sized, training chopsticks.
My son immediately went for the Gator Grabber and started to harvest the carrots. He needed to hold down the egg carton with one hand whilst using the Gator Grabber to pull the carrot in the other. If he didn’t do this then he simply lifted the entire egg carton instead. Within a few goes, he was able to pull the carrots out quickly.
Once each carrot had been harvested he wanted to have another go. The Gummi carrots easily slotted back into the holes and my son was able to repeat the activity over and over again.
It wasn’t long before Daddy wanted to join in the fun. The two had a race to see who could harvest the most amount of carrots. My son used the purple Jumbo Tweezer whilst Daddy used the CleverstiX. It was surprising the levels of competitiveness this activity created. As soon as each game ended they were slotting the carrots back into the holes in order to play it again.
Who knew Gummi carrots could be so much fun and help develop fine motor skills!
Learning Opportunities
Skills children work on as they plant and harvest carrots:
- Development of fine motor skills
- Eye & hand coordination – watching and doing and coordinating these actions.
- Concentration
Extend the Play with a Storytime!
Rabbit loves carrots and that’s a big problem! This lovely illustrated children’s book shows how friendships get us over the rough spots in life, even if the going gets a little bumpy. Find a book Too Many Carrots by Katy Hudson here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
Storyline: When a little boy plants a carrot seed, everyone tells him it won’t grow. But when you are very young, there are some things that you just know, and the little boy knows that one day a carrot will come up. So he waters his seed, and pulls the weeds, and he waits… Find The Carrot Seed book by Ruth Krauss here: United States | Canada | United Kingdom
Next Play Idea for Your Child
Invite your child to make a bunny art! You can also let them hop like a bunny in a backyard with an animal movement game. We also recommend trying some of other gardening themed activites during spring time.
Leave a Reply