What am I doing for Apple themed week in my preschool classroom?

Oh, I am so happy you asked because I would love to tell you! I'm about to spill the beans on all the super-easy, super-fun activities that will light up your preschool classroom during Apple Week!

Why Apple Week is Perfect for Preschool:

Apple Week is a golden opportunity for preschoolers to develop essential skills- think hands-on activities, science adventures, sensory play, fine motor skills and even dramatic play centers- all while learning about something they already use - apples! Whether you're a new teacher, a homeschooling parent, or on the lookout for engaging learning experiences, I've got a bunch of practical tips and fantastic apple-themed activities just for you. 

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Story Time:

Each morning, we begin with a read-aloud. The problem with Apple Week is there are SO MANY books to choose from. So while these are the books we read, I would encourage you to head to your local library and pick up whatever apple books they have because I promise you there will be tons!

I've rounded up all my apple book recommendations here

1. Ten Red Apples
2. Tap The Magic Tree
3. From Seed To Apple Tree
4. From Apple Trees to Cider Please
5. Apple Farmer Annie

Our favorite read alouds were Ten Red Apples and Tap the Magic Tree. Both of these books were so easy for me to include the children in the story. 

  

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Apple Discovery

This center was so easy to set up, and the students loved it. My one tip would be to do this activity in small groups or pull one student aside at a time like I did.

I set up an "Apple Discovery" table with parts of an apple labels, signs, and a taste test! The most important part of this center was using real apples. I set out a sensory bin filled with cut-up pieces of apples. I included the flesh, skin, seeds, stem, core, leaves, and apple halves.

We started the center by doing a taste test. The children got to choose which apple they wanted to taste, circle it on their sheet, and decide if they liked the taste or not (spoiler alert: they all liked it).

Once it was determined that they do, in fact, love apples, I showed them all the parts of an apple by picking up each piece from the sensory bin, identifying it, and showing them how they can sort it into the bowls. Now it was their turn. I sat with them as they picked through the parts of an apple and filled up the sorting bowls. Once they were done, I dumped it all back into the sensory bin and started over with another student.

 

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Apple Life Cycle

After reading "From Seed To Apple Tree", I wanted my kids to put their new knowledge to the test. I grabbed my circle time board and set up the "Life Cycle of an Apple" poster. I would ask students what they think the next stage of the life cycle is and let them add it to the board. You can use double-sided tape or velcro dots to stick it to the board.

My kids loved this. Anytime they get to "help the teacher" and add items to the circle time board, they are always engaged and I have their full attention. Plus, it was a great community-building activity because the kids worked together to create the life cycle circle.

 

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Apple Dramatic Play Center

I wanted to create an apple-themed pretend play center but use real-world images, so I made a small apple stand dramatic play area!

For this center, I mostly used my market stand and added play food I already had for the apple items. I did make apples by crumpling a piece of paper, wrapping felt around it, and tying it together with a clear band.

I categorize this as an "open center," meaning I give little to no direction to my students while they play. I give them a rundown of how to use the apple stand by showing them the money, order form, etc., but after that, the kids get to do their thing and play!

 

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Apple Sensory Bins

We did a lot of sensory bins during our Apple Week. From washing apples to counting apple seeds, if I could squeeze in a sensory bin activity, I did. During the beginning of the year, I try to make a majority of my centers sensory-based since it helps keep the kids engaged and learning for longer. But to do this, I often keep those sensory bins simple and reuse the same filler. Here are two sensory bins that I only switched out a couple of items to keep with our apple theme:

Counting Apple Seeds:

I filled my sensory bin with dry oats and black beans. I am not sure what makes oats apple-themed, but for some reason, it just makes sense. To the other side of my sensory bin, I added the topper to create a table space. I handed the students a pair of child tweezers so that they could pick the apple seeds (aka black beans) out of the sensory bin and add it to the apple. This worked on fine motor skills, one-to-one correspondence, and focused on numbers 1-10.

 

Apple Sorting

To the other side of that sensory bin, I kept the same oat filler, but this time instead of black beans, I added apple cards of different colors and sizes. I moved that topper to cover the counting apple seeds side and placed sorting mats on the table. Students could then sort each apple to the correct mat and work on color recognition and early math skills.

If you are looking for a new sensory bin, I would highly suggest this sensory table. I use it everyday and love it! 

 

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Apple Crafts

When it comes to crafts I am all about keep them as low prep as possible. This week we did a bunch of fun crafts but here are a few of my favorites.

A is for Apple Paper Tear Craft

This was one of the easiest crafts I have ever set up. I printed a letter "A" apple craft sheet for each student. Handed them a couple of strips of colored construction paper, scissors, and a glue stick. Some of my preschool learners wanted to rip the paper and glue it to the letter while others are loving using scissors for anything and everything. Either way, these were adorable to hang up on our art bulletin board.

Apple Basket Process Art

Another super simple craft to set up, but the clean-up can be messy depending on your children. I set up a tray with the apple basket craft sheet, a bowl of red paint (our color of the week is red), and an apple cut in half. After doing this activity for a few years, I have learned that it is best to cut slits in the apple to create a handle for kids to hold the apple.

Some of my littles carefully stamped the apples, and it was fairly mess-free, while others used the apples to cover anything and everything with red paint, so proceed at your own risk.

Circle Apple Craft

Differentiation is huge when it comes to teaching preschoolers. And like I said with the paper tear craft, some of my students are loving using scissors while others are still working on developing those fine motor skills.

I wanted skill levels to be able to do a circle craft (our shape focus is a circle this week), so I made two simple crafts!

The first is for the students who are able to use scissors. They cut out different-sized circles and glued them to the craft page to create a circle apple. And let me tell you, I was so impressed with how well some of these kids used their scissors.

For my younger learners, I printed out a bingo dot marker apple craft. They filled each circle in the apple with a dot, and we still got to focus on the shape of a circle. Win-win for everyone!

 

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Apple Dough Centers

It not officially a week of preschool lessons without a couple dough centers. Both of these centers focus on counting skills and were really easy to set up. Here's what we did:

Apple Tree Counting

Technically you don't have to use dough for these mats, but I did, so that's what we are going with. I printed and laminated each of the tree number mats (numbers 1-10 are included), but if you want to save your laminating sheets, you can stick these in clear sheet protectors. We used apple mini erasers to fill each number on the tree and rolled balls of dough to fill each ten frame.

Build an Apple Sorting Tray

Another day, another sorting tray! If you've been around here for a while, you know how much I love the Dollar Tree sorting trays. Today I filled up the tray with pipe cleaners, black beans, felt leaves, and of course, dough!

The kids spread the dough onto the apple page, picked a counting card, and began to build their apple by adding the correct amount of each item.

 

 

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Everything You Need For Apple Week