An Apple Theme for Preschoolers: Activities You and Your Students WIll "Fall" in Love With!
If you’re working on an apple theme for preschool, these apple activities will work out perfectly. You can teach art, environmentalism, and science, all with this tasty fruit. Don’t forget about including a healthy snack too! Enjoy!
Apple Painting
Cut several apples in half and dip them in different colors of paint. Then provide children with large, blank pieces of paper. Encourage students to dip the apple halves in the paint and use them to create apple shapes on the paper. (Make sure to have the children use smocks and newspaper to prevent paint stains.) Let their creations dry and display them in a visible area or send them home for their parents to enjoy. You can even write a cute saying on them like, “You are the ‘apple’ of my eye.”
Johnny Appleseed
Read a book about the legendary Johnny Appleseed with the children. Ask the children to explain what Johnny did and why was it so important. Why did he decide to plant trees? Discuss the importance of trees in general, and fruit trees in particular, with the students. You can also encourage them to pretend to be Johnny Appleseed, by providing a small empty pot with a handle for them to wear on their heads.
Science Activity – What’s in an Apple?
Have kids use very blunt plastic knives to see what’s inside of an apple. Encourage them to identify the various layers of the apple. They may even want to draw a diagram of an apple to better explain what they found. Discuss the importance of seeds with children, as well as why they are hidden inside of a fruit. Make sure that they understand that trees grow from seeds, and that animals carry the fruit away to eat it, so that the seeds become more spread out. (In this way, the animals are a bit like Johnny Appleseed!)
Snacktime!
Core apples and slice them very thinly. Then give children spoons and tubs of peanut butter, and show them how to make apple sandwiches by gluing the apples together with peanut butter. Let them eat their tasty treats! (Make sure there are no peanut allergies in the classroom first.)
These ideas are also perfect in connection with other apple lesson plans as well as Rosh Hashanah activities. This article has some other great Rosh Hashanah crafts.
