Apples -- Preschool & Kindergarten
Fingerplays/Songs
Here Is An Apple
Here is an apple (make circle with thumb and index)
And here is an apple (make circle with other thumb and index)
And a great big apple I see (Make a circle with arms)
Now let's count the apples we've made
One, Two, Three(repeat above actions)
Art
Make paper mache' apples as gifts for parents.
Make apple person using teacher design or make your own design.
Apples
Need: green, red, yellow construction paper, apple-shaped cookie cutters, apple stencil
Apple stencils can be made from cardboard, file folders, or thick paper.
Have children trace apple shapes on consturction paper using apple cookie cutters or apple stencils. Have children cut out their apples and hang on a wall in the classroom.
Games
Musical Apple
Need: Large apple shape from construction paper or a small red bean bag.
Children sit in a circle, play fun music while children pass around the paper apple. When the music stops the person holding the apple is sent to the middle of the circle (the apple orchard). Play just like Hot Potato with each person holding the paper apple sent to the center of the circle until only one person is left.
Snacks/Cooking
Apple Butter
Ingredients: 4lbs. apples, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup apple cinder vinegar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon cloves(ground)
Core and quarter unpeeled apples, then chop up or put in blender with water and vinegar. Cook in a saucepan over low heat until the mixture gets thick and turns brown. Stir occasionally. This will take 2-3 hours (1/4 of that time in a microwave oven). Add sugar and spices and cook for 1/2 hour more. Refrigerate, then spread on toast or muffins.
Apple Juice
Ingredients: 1/2 cup seeded apples -1 cup water -1 tsp. sugar
Blend the ingredients in a blender. Serve chilled.
Apple Honey Grahams
Ingredients: Apples, graham crackers, peanut butter, optional: honey
Give each child a slice of apple and a table knife for dicing the apple. Spread a graham cracker slice with peanut butter. Add honey, if you like. sprinkle diced apples on top.
Apple Sandwiches
Ingredients: apples, peanut butter
Slice apples the "round way" so that a star is formed in the center. Spread a slice with peanut butter and top with a second slice to form a sandwich. (You won't need to core the apples if the slices are thin.) You can use the leftover end pieces for making applesauce or for dicing on the apple grahams.
Individual Apple Pies
Ingredients: ready-made pie crust (the kind that comes packaged flat in the dairy case) canned apple pie filling
Have each child cut out two large circles of pie crust (using a large, round cookie cutter or a large plastic drinking cup). Put a spoonful of pie filling in the middle of one circle. Place the second dough circle on top. Use a fork to crimp the edges and pierce a few holes in the top to allow steam to escape. Bake in a toaster oven 10-15 minutes or until brown.
Stuffed Apple
Ingredients: appples, peanut butter, raisins, granola, sandwich bags
Core, then stuff opening with peanut butter mixed with raisins, wheat germ or granola. Slice in half and wrap in plastic, or store in a sandwich bag.
Story Video
Sites to See
Apple Counting (teeny tiny book)
Connect the dots (1-12)
See Also
Leaves | Families | Farm | Food Groups | Owls
Pumpkins | Halloween | Thanksgiving
Recommended Book
Apples
by Gail Gibbons
Amazing illustrations that introduce the reader to the botany of apples.
Explore the history of the apple but also the way that families and farmers grow and care for apple trees today, from planting to selling, to turning them into delicious treats and using them for classic games like "bobbing for apples" on Halloween.
