Is playing with fruits and vegetables without wasting them in order to teach kids haram?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger. 

We believe that there is no religious impediment to teaching children through the use of fruits without spoiling the fruit. The teacher may use five oranges, for example, to teach children the number five, and that if one is taken out, they become four. We know of no religious impediment to this. However, it is inappropriate to play with fruits, like by throwing them in the air and then catching them, for this may ruin the fruit, which is a form of insolence towards the favor of food. Insolence towards the favors of Allaah are reasons for incurring destruction. Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {And how many a city have We destroyed that was insolent in its (way of) living, and those are their dwellings which have not been inhabited after them except briefly. And it is We Who were the inheritors.} [Quran 28:58]

Moreover, playing with fruits may involve disrespect for the blessing of food. We are enjoined to honor and respect the blessings of Allaah conferred upon us as an expression of gratitude towards Him and as a way to preserve them, not play with them as such!

The Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Fataawa was asked:

“We work as teachers in a kindergarten and we have a corner for 'artistic expression'. Children are given dough made of flour, salt, oil, and food colors kneaded by the teachers to make play dough softer than the modeling clay for children to play with. Pieces of this dough fall on the floor and may be stepped on, and when the dough gets dry, it is thrown into the trash. What is the religious ruling on playing with such dough, noting that this is part of the curriculum set by the Ministry of Education? Please, advise us in this regard. May Allaah generously reward you.”

The answer reads:

“Offering such dough for children to play with involves disrespect for the blessing of food and constitutes food wastage (which is prohibited as well), while others are in dire need of such food to survive! The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, enjoined honoring and respecting the blessings of Allaah; he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, instructed us that if a piece of food falls on the floor, then the person eating should remove any dirt that got onto it and eat it; he should not leave it for Satan. You can offer children other materials, such as modeling clay or the like, to play with instead of this dough that would achieve the same objective in teaching the children.”

Allaah knows best.