Inside: Grab your salad spinner for this fun toddler pumpkin art activity. Comes with a free pumpkin printable!
Who knew that my salad spinner would get more use at school than at home!
Seriously, I love this thing.
If you’ve been following me for awhile, you’ve seen how we’ve made spiders, trees, and hearts using this nifty kitchen tool. But there are a few tips I’ve learned along the way, and will share those with you today.
If you’d like to see even more spin art, scroll down towards the end of this post!
CLICK HERE to see our classroom set up for the pumpkin theme!
Spin Painted Toddler Pumpkin Art with Free Printable
What you will need:
- Salad spinner
- Yellow washable tempera paint
- Red washable tempera paint
- Paper cut into a pumpkin shape OR you can use the free pumpkin printable I’ve included below.
Our favorite salad spinner:
Preparing this toddler pumpkin art activity:
Cut your paper to fit inside the salad spinner. (If you are using my pumpkin printable, do a loose cut around it.)
Get your paint ready. I like to pour ours into plastic squeeze bottles.
Note: You might want to thin your paint a bit with some tap water. This helps the paint move more while the paper is spinning.
When the paper is inside the salad spinner, squirt some of the red paint and some of the yellow paint on top of the paper.
Since I was standing right there, I let the children squeeze the paint. However, had I taken my eyes off of the activity they would have kept on going, emptying the entire bottle! So, if you do this, stay close.
Place the top on the spinner and show your children how to make to spin.
There are a lot of salad spinners out there, and they have different handles and buttons.
Of all the salad spinners we’ve used, my absolute favorite is the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner, shown in these photos.
First of all, I love the pump mechanism as opposed to those that require pulling latches or turning handles. It’s much less frustrating for toddlers to use.
They use the palms of their hands to pump the spinner. Great for building those fine motor skills!
Another plus is that it’s clear. One of the main reasons I like using a salad spinner is so that the children can actually SEE the colors mixing. This is one of the only spinners I’ve found that has a clear base AND a clear lid.
I also love that there is a button that acts as a brake when pressed.
Toddlers love pushing buttons, so this just adds to the fun of spin art!
When finished spinning, remove the top and lift the wet paper from the basket.
Once I show the children each step, they are ready to do most of it without much assistance.
Let them dry completely and they are ready to be displayed or taken home!
Free pumpkin printables! I’ve included 2 sizes depending on how big the basket is in your salad spinner. Click on photo for download:
More spin art activities:
No salad spinner? Make your own spin art machine!
- Spin Art Pumpkins Using a Paper Plate
- Spin Art Spiderwebs
- Apple Pie Scented Spin Art Craft
- Kid-Made Spin Art Wall Hangings
- Spin Art Heart Suncatchers
- Spin Art Butterflies
