An 🍎 Apple a Day... 10 Fun & Easy Apple Activities & Crafts

An apple a day keeps the doctor away! The famous quote that gives apples the reputation of being one of the best fruits known to man. The apple is so popular that it is even considered the fruit most people like to think was on the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. It is true apples have amazing health benefits and provide a fun unit study on this short week!

Here are some fun and simple Apple activities and crafts.

1. Bobbing for Apples: To introduce the topic we started off with this fun and traditional game: Bobbing for Apples! It was super fun and simple. I just grabbed a big bowl, filled with water and used two apples from the fridge!

2. Cut open the apple and study it! Next we took a few minutes to cut open the apple from top to bottom. We talked about the skin, the flesh, the seeds and the stem. Then they enjoyed a yummy snack!

3. Apple Parts Craft. After we studied and ate our apples we reinforced what we had learned by making a craft picturing and labeling the different apple parts. It only took me a few minutes to cut out the shapes. And since Tripp is older I make him write, cutout and place his own labels. 

4. Read books about apples. After our craft we took our study onto the front porch to read. Here in FL this is the most beautiful time of the year where you can actually sit outside and not sweat. There are many different books about apples. I would actually like to add some more to our library, as right now we only have two. We read Apples, Apples, Apples and Ten Apples Up on Top. 

5. Apple Stamps. When we finished reading we did one more craft. I cut an apple core in half and let kids do some stamping!!

6. Watch YouTube videos on the Life Cycle of an Apple Tree. Today I wanted to talk a little bit more about how apples actually grow on trees. So we spent a few minutes and watched a couple videos. 

7. Season Apple Tree Craft. So to follow up with the videos and give me chance to talk about the Seasons, we did a craft showing the stages of an apple tree throughout the year. There are so many ways you can do this project. Ibahve never done it the same way twice. 

This year I took a large piece of art paper and folded it into four squares to represent the four seasons. I then let the kids draw four tree trunks with branches, one in each square.

I used painting dots and ripped paper to create the differrnt trees. (If I had some other color options for tissue paper i would have used that. But i didn't lol so i used torn up pieces of paper instead).

 For winter we painted white dots to represent the snow. For spring we used a few pieces of green paper for leaves, added red to the white paint, and painted pink dots to represent apple blossoms. For summer we used more green pieces, but this time filled the tree and then painted yellow dots to represent the budding fruit. For fall we used yellow, red, orange and some green to represent fall leaves a d we painted red dots to represent apples ready to pick!

Mia's Creation

Tripp's Art work

8. Ten Apples Up on Top Game. This so simple! I found two old pictures of Mia and Tripp, cut them out. Then I cut out ten felt circles for each and we re-enacted the story with the pictures. It was a great way to reinforce the book and help Mia count. 

Ten Apples Up On Top Game

Overall we enjoyed it. It wasn't anything too intense as I try to keep things interesting for both kids. Mia learned a lot and Tripp is still intrigued by the topping and understands it better and better each time. 

There are a few more things I'd like to do this week:

9. Make An Apple Treat. There are so many things you can make, Candy apples, apple slice lollipops, apple pie, apple sauce, apple butter!

10. Go Apple Picking. This one is most likely impossible due to our location. Which stinks because Tripp keeps asking to go. And I grew up in NJ so I know what we are missing out on LOL!! But seriously if you live near an apple orchard I would definitely plan a day to go visit! 

If you do go take pics and share them with me! I'd love to see what you are up to! Also I'd love to see your apple crafts and inventions as well!! God knows we need all the support we can get!

First Day of Fall

As most people I love the change of seasons from summer to fall. Usually I am not in a rush, but this year the cooler weather can't get here fast enough after the brutally hot summer we had. The hardest thing about Fall in Florida is that IF the leaves change colors and fall off, it usually doesn't happen until winter time. So to fill in the gaps we turn to reading lots of fall books and making crafts.

Last week was the first day of Fall! To recognize the change of seasons, in an otherwise unchanging climate, we took a break from our regular scheduled schooling that morning to discuss this new season. Keeping it simple this year we started off by reading a few books. We read Let It Fall, Fall Mixed Up, Leaf Trouble, and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves.

After that we spent some time talking about what happens during Fall and what kind of activities you can expect. And then we created a Fall Bucket List of all the thing we want to do this fall. I wrote it on poster board and hung it up near our calendar.

We concluded our introduction to fall with a fun art project. I painted their arms and hand brown and we used that as our tree trunk and branches. Then I put out red and yellow paint and let them use their fingers to paint fall leaves. The kids enjoyed it and it created some fun fall decorations for my wall!