Outdoor sensory play idea: Toddlers and preschoolers will love exploring fresh herbs and plants with this fun backyard sensory activity!
This is such a fun way for kids to work on their cutting skills. It’s also one of our favourite water play activities for engaging all the senses. The smell of fresh cut herbs, the beautiful colours of the garden, splashing in the cool water – what more could you ask for in an outdoor toddler activity?
Every year at about this time, when the garden is in full tilt, we break out the bowls, buckets and the scissors and we spend the morning making “Garden Soup”. It’s one of our favourite Springtime activities.
This year, I decided to change things up a bit, and instead of having flowers as the main ingredient in our activity, I gathered fresh herbs from around the yard and garden, thinking it would be heavenly to enjoy the pungent aromas as the kids snipped and chopped the sprigs into their “soup”.
To make our herb kitchen, I used:
- Herbs: we used cilantro, basil, oregano, dill, chives, tarragon, thyme and mint
- scissors
- ladles and spoons
- bowls
- cups or scoops
- large stock pot filled with water
- flowers, shells and stones (added as an afterthought)
We started off by exploring the different herbs, crushing and smelling a few of the leaves, and I explained how they’re used to add flavour to our food: oregano and basil in spaghetti and pizza sauce, mint in gum etc.
Then the hooligans gathered around our 6 dollar thrift shop coffee table , which is perfect for crafting and play at, and they chopped, plucked and snipped their leaves and stems into their bowls; perfect for fine motor and scissor skill development.
They scooped water from the big stock pot and added it to their bowls,
and they spent the better part of an hour mixing up their concoctions.
When most of the herbs had been used up, someone ran to the deck and fetched a bowl of stones and shells to add to their soup,
and I clipped some incredibly fragrant peony blooms garden, and they used the petals to garnish their bowls.
What a wonderful way to spend the morning! Water play, sensory play and fine motor development all rolled into one super Springtime activity.
And when we were finished, we scooped out the shells and stones, and dumped our “soup” into the compost bin. 🙂
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
Mudpie Mama
This is a wonderful activity. I can’t wait to do this with my little one 🙂
Alex @ northstory
That is by far the best kind of soup! I often keep telling people who don’t have a garden that the one thing you always love the most isn’t just the food, it’s the smell the garden emits – not the flower ones – but the vegetable and herb ones. It’s so nice in the backyard!
learnwithplayathome
Just looking at those pics makes me want to leap in and play as well. Thanks so much for linking this to Tuesday Tots. I’ve featured it this week 🙂
happyhooligans
Thanks, Debs! And thanks so much for featuring us in your fab collection!
Christy
What a fun idea! I love how it’s sensory & educational at the same time – anything that keeps them busy and has them learning at the same time is a fabulous thing in my books!
happyhooligans
I agree, Christy!
Amy
How fun! You must have a lovely garden with all the herbs and peonies!
childrens nursery
I suggest this site to my friends so it could be useful & informative for them also. Great effort.
pmoppins
Would a wonderful free play activity! You may have budding chefs on your hands. 🙂 And there’s the added benefit of pruning back herbs too.
happyhooligans
So true! Our oregano and tarragon are getting a little out of hand already!
Linda Tandy
I have a bowl of herbs growing in the childrens play room. Guess what we are going to do with them today!!
Thank you for an awesome idea!
Linda Tandy
We did this last week and my Daycare children LOVE it. Thanks again
Rachel
This is so brilliant, yet simple enough that I tried it spur of the moment today and my two-year-old LOVED it. We had recently read “Stone Soup” and she made the connection right away, then spent the ENTIRE morning cutting and stirring and finding ingredients to add to her pot. Thank you so much!