Autumn fruits motor-skills home made stencil painting activity

It's not yet properly cold and wet and if you look around you'll be able to spot some of the last fruits of the year.  Jane says it's a beautiful time of the year with all the autumn colours too.  Fruit picking is a great motor skill in itself.  But if there aren't many to pick where you are or you just want to have some fun at home then this easy to make stamp painting activity is good for motor skills and learning about fruit at this time of the year.

This time of year has blackberries, plums, and crab apples around.  This recycled stamps activity really work with these ideas.  The stamps are easy to make and kids can either help making them directly or just use them to stamp.  Both are great for developing fine motor skills, bilateral skills where both hands are used at the same time and developing their imagination.

To make the different stamps you will need elastic bands, emptied toilets, empty clingfilm/ foil rolls, some bubble wrap and a pair of strong scissors.  Some of the cardboards rolls can be hard to cut so be careful if the kids are helping make the stamps, perhaps they can help with the elastic bands if there is difficulty.  Working our way from the top photo, far left:

• For the first stamp, use am empty toilet roll.  Cut all the way down one side and then bent the edges together to make more a heart shape.  Then hold in place with elastic bands.  This is great to make apple shapes. 
• To make the second stamp, cut a clingfilm / foil roll into four equal pieces about 3-4 inches each.  Then simply strap them together with elastic bands around the top and bottom to hold them together.  This makes a set of round berry shape.
• The third stamp is made in a similar way.  Again cut a clingfilm / foil roll into four equal pieces about 3-4 inches each.  This time cut a small triangle out from one end and pinch the pick together to create a more tear drop shape.  Then simply strap them together with elastic bands around the top and bottom to hold them together like before. This is great for hanging berries shapes like elderberry. 
• Last stamp we made using a toilet roll.  Cut out a circle of bubblewrap about twice the diameter of the toilet roll them place over one end and secure with a few elastic bands.  We love this one to make blackberry shapes.

To get stamping add some paints to paper or plastic plates or bowls and off your little ones go.  We used yellow paper to show up the colours and talked a bit about how the leaves were changing colour too. 

We did this activity at Me Too & Co which supports families with children with additional needs.
What are you up to this autumn?

This post also supports The Makaton Charity #wetalkmakaton sign of the week 'apple'