What’s On Our Shelf: Apple Theme

If you're looking for tons of fall activity inspiration, check out a few of these posts! Sensory Bins, Active Learning Journal Pages, Gross Motor

Way up high in the apple tree, two red apples smiled at me! I shook that tree as hard as I could, down came the apples mmmm they were good!

Back to School time and an apple theme just go hand in hand. In the hierarchy of fall themes, this is probably my favorite! We’re able to focus on color and size sorting, counting, life cycles, changing of seasons, senses, and tons of fine motor work.

As always, these activities try to use the least amount of supplies possible or can be used in multiple ways. The prep work should be minimal! I’ve linked to any printables I used if at all possible. I’m also utilizing affiliate links which means I’ll earn a small commission if you purchase anything.

apple pie Sensory Bin

In the past I’ve made this bin to use throughout the fall months. I thought it would be fun to change it up a little by adding a multi sensory and open ended play bin for this theme. I couldn’t even get a good picture before my buddies dove right in!

You’ll Need:

Oatmeal
Cinnamon or other fall spices
Scoops
Bowls
Pom poms or mini apple erasers
Felt circles for pie crust
I added mini cutting boards, a small dough roller and an empty spice container filled with brown paper, these are totally optional!

Add oatmeal to a small bin, sprinkle your spices throughout to make it smell like a baking pie! Have your children scoop oatmeal into their pie pan, add a few apples, sprinkle some cinnamon on top and then make a pie crust! Yum yum!

I added brown crinkle paper to an old spice container to act as cinnamon!

Fine Motor

I’ve wanted this apple for years! I’m so glad I finally purchased it because both kids are at the perfect stage to introduce it. I like that the holes are throughout the apple which makes it really an open ended tool.

This DIY apple threading activity goes really well with the wooden apple. I glued large buttons onto a long satin ribbon to make a double ended thread and needle. I cut some (poorly, I might add!) felt apples with two slits to thread through the large buttons.

I love posting activities for my younger toddlers. Adding in a color matching element is perfect for my newly 2 year old charge. I took the empty oatmeal container from the sensory bin, cut some holes and then added a few color dot stickers by each hole. Guide your child to push poms through the correct color hole.

Who doesn’t have a stash of TP tubes lying around?! Put them to good use with this quick apple balance game. Have your child set up the tubes on a sturdy surface and then have her balance apples on top. We’re using fake apples but you could totally do this with real ones. In fact it would add more of a challenge since they are heavier! This is also great for one to one correspondence practice as well.

This fine motor activity uses our ten frame and color matching cards (which can both be found in our shop) I pulled red, yellow and green to stand in for apple colors.

I pulled out a few unifix cubes in red, yellow and green for fine motor and counting practice. They also fit inside the pom pom posting container or can be used in the ten frame.

Life Cycle Activities

One of the best parts of an apple theme are all the life cycle and seasonal changes you can observe. We focus on the elements of an apple, the life cycle of an apple tree, and read tons of books about how apples grow. I’ll link our favorite informational books at the end of this post.

The next few activities are a little more labor intensive as the include cutting felt, but they will last you a few years! I found the original idea at Mama’s Happy Hive. She has a free printable that I used to wild success. I modeled how to use the pieces one time for my almost 4 year old which was all she needed to feel confident! I did color a sample to use as reference for independent play.

E really enjoys putting this tree together while we are reading life cycle books. It has helped her ground the life cycle of a tree to real life.

I enjoy having a set of three part matching cards for J while his sister works on harder skills like the felt tree. This set was found here.

If I can find a new way to use Magnatiles, I’ll use it! I printed two copies of this printable. One I colored to tape on our set of squares the other I placed on a dollar store cookie sheet. Both kids have loved this simple tray work.

Books

As far as non-fiction apple books go, these two are by far the best!

How Do Apples Grow?