Printing With Citrus Fruit
Printing with citrus fruit is a fun activity that makes use of abundant fruit and encourages familiarity with healthy food and nature.
Over the years I’ve done loads of vegetable and fruit printing with our girls. (Have you ever printed the base of a bunch of celery? Amazing!)
Owning a produce business meant we always had plenty of leftovers to play with. Time after time we’d try to print with citrus and it was great fun, but also rather disappointing.
You know when you keep doing something even though it’s kind of mediocre. Then one day on a Pinterest scroll I saw this nifty idea.
A clever person had carefully removed the fleshy segments with a paring knife, let the citrus dry out and ‘wallah’ cute citrus prints! (and me thinking for the millionth time “why didn’t I think of that!”)
Tips
- Use nice firm citrus fruit
- Use a pointy-nosed paring knife to cut out fleshy segments
- Prepare ahead of time, so your citrus can dry out on paper towel
Materials Needed
- A mix of citrus fruit – oranges, lemons, limes
- A small pointy-nosed paring knife
- Paper towel
- Acrylic paint and flat tray
- Paper
Method
- Cut citrus fruit in half through the middle. Using pointy nosed paring knife, carefully cut each fleshy segment out, being careful to leave the pithy membrane in between (see top photo).
- Lay the fruit onto the paper towel to drain out extra juice for at least an hour.
- Choose your paints and add a little to your flat paint tray (less paint is best when it comes to having a defined print). We used yellow, orange, green and white, so as they mixed the colours would stay fresh.
- Before beginning to print, make sure you smell each of the fruits with the children. Citrus is such a refreshing scent, don’t miss out on engaging these senses!
- Start printing by placing fruit face down into paint and then transferring to the paper. Watch the childrens’ faces as they lift the citrus to reveal the cool patterns underneath!
Extending on the experience
- Printing with other fruit and vegetables. Some beautiful prints are made with mushrooms and capsicums cut in half. The bases of celery are cool too and make a flower-type shape!
- Using fragrant citrus leaves as part of a sensory or play dough tubs.
- Cut citrus in half to make juice for the children to try.
- Look at other foods that have a similar shape eg. pizza!
- Make a sensory water tub filled with citrus segments and flowers.
Now I’d love to know what type of printing your children love to do?
As always if you have any questions or suggestions about printing with citrus fruit or a great lemon butter recipe, please send them through to hello@craftylittlefolk.com
Happy printing!
You might like to find out how to Create Trees with Texture Stamps.
If you are looking for ready made crafting kits, please visit our shop here.
Jasmine xx
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