getting a little themey with apples

Everyone brought an apple to school for tasting. We used our "octopus" slicer to cut the apples into eight pieces that we then cut with butter knives to share. After much deliberation and sampling, the kiddos graphed their name in the column of the color apple they liked the best.

 

Next up, more chopping of apples that were then mixed into a homemade batter to make apple muffins. We used the recipe in the back of Apple Farmer Annie. Not one crumb was left. Yum! 

Lastly, we did a three step apple tree painting. The kiddos used a paintbrush to paint their trunk, a bath sponge for the leaves, and their fingers for the apples. Later we talked about the many ways you could paint an apple tree. Some of the children continued on to draw trees with markers, and paint trees at the easel. It was a lot of fun, themey or not!

how about them apples?

napkins and napkin rings

apple scented play dough and apple leaves

small acrylic apple gems and an apple ice tray

apple scented rice

wee apples and tongs

play apple pie with cinnamon scented cotton balls

apple leaf crayon resists

Leaf rubbings are nothing new. I remember doing them when  I was small. For our two week unit on all things apple, I brought in some leaves from my apple tree to see if we could pull of some pretty ghostie rubbings.

Along with apple leaves, I brought in nasturtium, grape, and blackberry. The leaves looked quite pretty in our basket. A few may have even made their way to the play dough table. To begin, gather up an assortment of leaves and set them within reach of your kiddo(s). Use a sturdy white paper, we used watercolor paper purchased from Michael's from their creatology line. Next up, set up your watercolors. We used liquid watercolors at their full strength in small baby food jars. I prefer the liquid water colors for their vibrancy but you can also use a caked water color set. While I did have the leaves, paper, and crayons all set up, I asked each child what two colors they would like to use for their painting. The first kiddo said pink and purple and well...if you know kiddos it is how easily they want what their buddy has so most of our rubbings are with the same colors. We used white crayons for this project and the  rubbings are really pretty. I purchased a box of white crayons a few years ago. I cannot remember where I found them but I would try online if you are looking.

Each kiddo selected a leaf or two and placed them on the table in front of them. They then placed the paper over the leaves. Many found that they would have to rearrange leaves and/or paper a bit to accommodate everything. After that I did demo how to use the side of the crayon. We talked about pushing it like a broom. Some of the kiddos needed a little extra help to get the pressure right to pick up the details of the leaves. All of the children exclaimed over not being able to see anything.

After your kiddo has used their crayon for the rubbing, remove the leaves and get to painting. One tip for this is to use smaller cuts of paper. Smaller kiddos have a trying time covering all that white space so I will often cut larger sheets of paper into smaller sizes often mixing it up with skinny pieces, squares, rectangles, etc. This way they get to choose what shape and how small or large their art will be. We used small watercolor brushes to apply the paint and there was a lot of "oooohing" and "aaahhhing". It was really sweet.

Hang to dry and display in a pretty space. We're putting our small paintings into our classroom journals but I think these would make lovely cards or gifts. Don't you?

On the flip side, you can paint the leaves and press them onto your paper as well (which is was my assistant did with all the puddles of watercolor on the table). Super swoony!

making apple pie and the best kitchen gadget ever

We did three weeks of apple themed books in the classroom. As I was planning out our days I really wanted to make apple sauce and apple pie. I figured I could use a crock pot to make sauce but how could we bake pies? The school does have a kitchen but I wanted the children to be able to see the pies get made and so, after discovering the pie making capabilities of the cupcake maker I discovered one on super sale and snatched it up. We were going to make apple pie in class! Each kiddo would get to make their very own tiny apple pie. I was super excited!

To make things easier and to allow for more play time, I used Trader Joe's pre-made pie crust (it is super tasty). The children each got a chance at using the rolling pin to roll over the dough...large motor skills!

And then use the crust cutting tool to cut out  circle, shape recognition!

I didn't turn the maker on until we were ready to bake so the children got to select which batter well they wanted their pie to bake in and got to place their crust into the well then use the push tool to press it down after they dunked it into some flour so it would not stick. They then added a few scoops of cooked apples (I made this at home) into their bottom crust (some chose one scoop while others did two, three or even four). Here the children learned new vocabulary words, methods of baking, and used hand-to-eye coordination to place their crust evenly into their wells and drop their apple filling on top.

 

 After they used the other side of the crust-cutting tool to cut out a smaller circle for their top-crust (more vocabulary and shape recognition going on) they used their "pinching fingers" to pinch up a small amount of sanding sugar for the top (fine motor skills).

The pies baked up in ten minutes and made the room smell delicious for the remainder of the day. We shared our apple pies with the Jr. K class at lunch time and there was nary a crumb left. We are totally going to make pumpkin muffins and corn bread in November!

another apple tree (minus the apples)

This tree was a group effort. I cut out the trunk and an assortment of "branches" and popped them onto a tray. After gluing down the trunk onto a large sheet of paper I invited the children over to build an apple tree.


We talked about the trees in our stories (most recently The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree) and I asked if this tree needed some branches. One of the children spied the pile of cut brown paper on the tray and hollered "There are some branches!" And so, armed with glue sticks, the children set to adding branches to the tree.

Once they were satisfied with the branches, I brought out paint (they chose green and yellow) and a couple of stubby dish scrubbers (kind of like this but from the dollar store) to use as stampers for the leaves. They stamped away until lunch time and we hung our tree up to dry before adding our apples. We still have yet to add apples and we might not get to it. I have it tacked up to our easel in case anyone wishes to apple-it-up.

the wormy apple game

 

I found this small red colander at the dollar store and thought it looked a bit apple like. Add a construction paper stem and leaf, a handful of pipe cleaners, and some wooden cubes and an invitation to play was made.

 Don't ask me how to play it, they just do and it is fantastic!

our classroom apple tree

 

Back when I was working on my lesson plan for our apple fiesta (three weeks of apple books and play) I spied this awesome pom-pom apple tree on pinterest. I hopped on over to Two Daloo, the original source and found a brand new blog to love.  This was one of those "I have to do this projects"...

And so I did...

I searched and searched for a budget friendly tree to sue but could not find one. Luck happened upon us in the guise of a windy day that dropped a large tree branch on our neighbor's lawn.

After more than a dozen eye-rolls, I convinced the mister that dragging the branch back to the garden and then trimming it down would totally work. It did! We trimmed two portions of the branch and propped them into a clay pot partly filled with soil and gravel. This way the tree is easily "broken-down" and can be re-used over and over again (oh if I had the time I would have made Halloween poms)!

The children loved hanging apples on the tree and then picking them. I keep finding the happy little poms in the play kitchen tucked into pots, cups, and muffin tins. 

The time spent making the poms was totally worth it! Now I need to find small pine cones...

apple printing for our apple unit

Most schools will do some sort of apple for fruit theme during the school year and many will do fruit printing as a part of their art and enrichment in the classroom. It's fun, it's simple and for the most part it is pretty.

Aside from the pretty though there is a lot going on. Firstly there is language. When I set up the activity thechildren often run over and ask questions:

What's that? What's this? What are you doing?

After they ask questions, we cut the apples open and talk about what we see, smell, taste, and feel.  They often tell me they have apples at home or they like green paint or that they have a dog.

The process of dipping the apples into the paint, lifting them and then pressing them to paper is not as easy for a three year old as it is for an adult. The apples are cold and wet, which often surprises the children and many will not wish to continue. In those instances brushes and or sponges are offered up and made available. Other colors are added if the children ask for them but for this particular project we chose red and green to go with the apples we had on our flannel board.

Some children get the hang of it quickly and happily press away while others make a few prints then discover how cool and wet the paint is in their hands discarding the apples and diving in with all fingers squishing and swiping the paint on their paper. Other children are happy to print with the fruit but do not want paint on their hands. I set out a damp sponge for them to wipe their fingers on. Sometimes the sponge becomes the brush and sometimes it is used to wash the paintbrushes.

What I love about setting up any project or center is seeing how the children approach it and what they end up doing with it. It's never dull, that's for certain!

An Ode to Johnny Appleseed

Yesterday was Johnny Appleseed Day and sadly I have no apple-y books on hand (I can't find my copy of Ten Apples Up On Top!) so instead I bring you a nifty list o' fun and a visual guide to apple printing!

Scrumdilly-do it!

You will need:
*apples (bruised is better)
*paper
*paint
*cookie cutters
*glitter & other optional zing
*apron or old clothes for mess
*splat mat or plastic tablecloth


Gather your supplies. You can do this with any fruit or vegetable of course!


Slice apples for your kidlets but let them use the cookie cutters if they can:


Have your kidlets paint their apple pices or they can dip them in the paint. In an attempt to keep things on the neat side, if you have a neatnick type of kid, put a small amount of paint in cupckae liner and place those in a plastic container or on a paper plate:


now they can stamp their way across the paper! They can also use the fruit as if it were a brush. You never know what thye will do. Just make sure they don't EAT the fruit!



You can add glitter or salt to the paint while it is wet and when it ries it will hold the zing1 Yo ucan also use crayons and/or markers to draw over the painting. Hang it up somewhere special, turn it into gift wrap or cover an old tissue box for fun and purdy storage!

Have fun! Here's a nifty and kid friendly applesauce recipe! Adjust it for a smaller batch and give yer kidlets 4 an older plastic knives so they can cut their own apples!