Wash the Vegetables
A bowl of water, tonight's vegetables, and a toddler with a real job.
- Ages
- 18 mo–5 yrs
- Play
- 10–25 min
- Prep
- 3 min
- Mess
- some
- Energy
- calm
- Where
- anywhere
You’ll need
Things you probably have at home.
- sturdy vegetables like potatoes and carrots
- a big bowl of cool water
Optional
- a clean sponge or vegetable brushGet it on Amazon
- a colander for the clean onesGet it on Amazon
- a towel for the floor
How to play
Before you start: Put a towel on the floor and the bowl of water on a low table or a sturdy step stool at the sink.
Before you start: Pile the dirty vegetables on one side and put the colander on the other.
Show them one vegetable going in the water, getting a scrub, and landing in the colander.
Hand over the sponge and let them work through the pile.
Name each one as it goes in: potato, carrot, pepper.
Count the clean ones together at the end.
Cook them for dinner and tell everyone who washed them.
What it helps with
Keep it safe
- Stay close whenever there is a bowl of water.
- Keep knives and the peeler well out of reach while they work.
Make it different next time
- Wash fruit for the fruit bowl instead.
- Give them a dish towel and let them dry each one too.
Cleanup: Tip the water down the sink and hang up the towel.
Three more like this
- Good for siblings
Learn something
Toy Washing Station
15–45 min 18 mo–7 yrs Some mess- washable toysto buy
- warm water
- two tubs