Apple Themed Toddler and Preschool Activities 13

Pooky and I started our year of preschool at home doing some simple, fun, and educational hands-on activities all related to apples.

Here are some of the ways we worked with the “A is for Apple” theme that you can try with your own little ones.

Read children’s books about apples.

Apple by Nikki McClure is the one we used the most through the week. I highly recommend it for this age group.

Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss is a classic that incorporates counting. After reading it several times, we did a felt board counting activity with it.

Sort different colored apples.

We sorted red and green apples counting them together as she placed them in their corresponding basket. Then we counted them again as she placed them back into their original basket.

Count apples on a number line.

I also created an apple number line (thanks to paper apples from the dollar store).  First I had Pook count the numbers pointing them out as we went along the number line.  Then I had her place real apples on the paper apples counting as she went.  Next, I asked her to  uncover each paper apple and say the number on it.  Finally, we picked the apples up one by one and put them back in the basket counting as we did so.  I really liked that this one activity provided several opportunities for Pook to practice counting to 10.

Practice fine motor skills.

I used some free printables from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

She traced the uppercase and lowercase letter A with dot markers.

Our fine motor letter activity on another day was to trace the letter A with playdough.

She transferred pom pom “apples” to the paper apple tree using tongs.

Incorporate the arts!

I had Pooky tear up pieces of yellow and red tissue paper in preparation for a “stained glass” apple art project.  (You can see the finished project here.)

And for some gross motor skill work, we got up and danced to “Apples and Bananas” which I found on this fun CD that I borrowed from our library.

We had so much fun with these that we did more fun apple theme activities the next week.

To see even more apple theme activities check out my board on Pinterest.