Harvest time – nature offers new and fresh ways to develop fine motor skills

What you need 

• Fruits, herbs, leaves, weeds or flowers  

What to try 

• Where possible, encourage your child to help you pick fruits from plants, or from the stalk when cooking. 
• Involve them in picking the leaves off herbs when you cook.  
• Invite them to pull tomatoes or grapes from the stalks when preparing them for eating. 
• If your child picks fruits like apples, damsons, cherries and berries, they’ll need some support to help them twist and pull the fruits from the tree or ground. Fruits like these can sometimes be found on local walks.  
• Weeds grow all year round, when you spot them, encourage your child to pull them up. 
• If you see brown leaves hanging from bushes, challenge your child to pull them off. 
• Or simply pick a daisy and pull the petals off one by one. 

Always make sure you know that what you’re picking is safe. Chat with your child about which fruit and flowers it is ok to pick and remind them to wash their hands when you have finished. 

Good to know 

Picking fruits, leaves, weeds, herbs and flowers is a tricky skill to master as they must control the force they use as they pull and twist. 

If you grow fruit at home involve your child as much as possible when you pick the fruit, or you could visit a fruit picking farm if you have one nearby. 

If they do pick any food that you want to eat later, be prepared for some of it to get squashed, as your child won’t yet understand that some fruits will be softer than others.