*Anti-biased Apples We take the kids to the fruit market and let them pick out one apple each. We also pick out one red, one yellow, one green and then we return to the center and discuss the difference in shape and color. When we open them we discover that even though they may seem different on the outside they are still the same on the inside. (Make sure that when you talk to them you also discuss taste, they may all look alike on the inside but they do taste different * Apple Tree Game Same idea as above using red caps for apples in an apple tree. Use a permanent marker to put a number on each milk cap and one on each apple in the tree. Younger children will just match by shape (one-to-one correspondence). *Apple Tree! Apple Tree! - by Mary Blocksman *Apples, How They Grow - by Bruce McMillan *A is for Apples Cut out an A shape from green paper. Have the children glue red circles to the shape or dip their finger in red paint and put red prints on the letter A. *Numbered Apples Make a felt apple tree and ten felt apples and place the tree on a flannelboard. Number the apples from 1 to 10. Let each child in turn choose an apple, identify the number on it and place the apple on the tree. When all the apples are on the tree, count them as a group. * Apple sauce: We make applesauce. I peel, they chop, cook in the crock pot, add cinnamon red hots for flavor. * Individual Apple Pies: 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. * Apple Honey Grahams 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 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 described above. *"Applesauce" For each quart of peeled and sliced apples, add: -1 cup water -1/2 cup sugar -1 tsp. lemon juice -1/4 tsp. cinnamon -pinch of salt Cook until tender. Mash apples with a potato masher or electric mixer. Add more sugar if needed. Serve cold. *"Dried Apple Rings" - Peel, core, and cut apples into rings. Dip in salted water for 15 minutes. Dry for two weeks. *"Apple Ring Sandwiches" - Peel, core, and cut apples into rings. Spread with: - peanut butter and bananas slices OR - cream cheese and raisins OR - granola mixed with honey OR - cheese spread or a slice of cheese. Cover the first apple ring with another apple ring to make a sandwich. *"Apple Juice" -1/2 cup seeded apples -1 cup water -1 tsp. sugar Blend the ingredients in a blender. Serve chilled. *Pictures of different varieties of apples. *Graphing favorite color apples *Label a bulletin board: "Apeeeeling Work" "You are the Apple of my Eye" *Apple estimation vs marble estimation: try to estimate how many seeds are in an apple and how many marbles are in a clear jar....which is easier to estimate??/ why?????? *Apple circumference - measure the circumference of different sized apples..line up the apples from biggest to smallest *make caramel apples *try different types of apples (apple tasting party) have dried apples, applesauce, apple juice, fresh apple, apple pie--which do they like the best?? graph the results *make sequence cards for the kids - seeds, tree w/ flower, tree w/ apples, basket of apples, apple pie *BOOKS Red Is An Apple and The Little Red House (both are teacher made big books from The Color Box) Blocksma, "Apple Tree! Apple Tree!" Bourgeois, "The Amazing Apple Book" Caseley, "An Apple Pie and Onions" Dodd, "The Apple Tree" Eberle, "Apple Orchard" Gibbons, "The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree" Gleitner, "Johnny Appleseed" Greenaway, "A Apple Pie" Greene, "John Chapman: The Man Who Was Johnny Appleseed" Heuck, "Who Stole the Apples?" Johnson, "From Appleseeds to Applesauce" Kellogg, "Johnny Appleseed" Lindbergh, "Johnny Appleseed" McMillan, "Apples: How They Grow" Maestro, "How Do Apples Grow?" Micucci, "The Life and Times of the Apple" Noble, "Apple Tree Christmas" Norman, "Johnny Appleseed" Nottridge, "Apples" Parnall, "Apple Tree" Rockwell, "Apples and Pumpkins" Scheer, "Rain Makes Applesauce" Schneiper, "An Apple Tree Through the Year" Selsam, "The Apple and Other Fruit" Watson, "Tom Fox and the Apple Pie" *Read about Johnny Appleseed, then children make appleseed envelops for a friend (with appleseeds inside to plant) *Sing Apples and Bananas *Each child brings an apple. We count, sort, and graph them on a big floor graph. We weigh some of them using a balance scale and teddy bear counters. *We eat red, yellow, and green apples and graph our favorite. *The kids tell me words to describe apples and I write them on a big apple shaped chart. *Another fun apple activity is to have the children estimate how many bites it will take to get to the core of an apple. They can count as they eat! *This is done in pairs with one child behind the other. The one in back does the work, then they can reverse directions, and repeat with the other child doing the "work". Criss-cross applesauce (make an X on the child's back) Spiders crawling up your spine (finger walk up child's spine) Cool breeze (blow on child's neck) Tight squeeze (gently squeeze the child's shoulders) Now you've got the chillies! (You get a funny feeling like goosebumps) *Apple Divider Art (taken from the book "Oodles and Doodles of Art'-Siegler & Torgenson, Teaching & Learning Company,1994...this is a GREAT book for hands-on, process-oriented art experiences) - Collect paper apple dividers from grocery store, gather glue and tempera paint. Authors say there are several ways to use items: (1) mix paint with the glue and then let students drizzle on the inside of the dividers or (2) have students paint outside of the apple dividers with lots of different colors. Authors suggest also using dividers for collages with various materials added. *Magic Picture - Make a stencil for apples and worms and let the student make a rubbing over the stencil with crayons to make the magic picture appear. *Let the students draw a picture of a tree and then allow them to place their thumb on a red stamp pad (washable). Next, have them stamp their thumb print on their tree and then they draw green leaves. Can be done individually or as a group for a mural. Allow your students access to collage materials to see what they can create. You could have students write/dictate a stories, write the various numbers of apples they stamped, or write simple sentences like "I see ___ apples" for a class book. *Have the students work in small groups to design their own 'Mini Apple Orchard". Fill a pan with dirt, twigs, toy tractors, green sponges for apple trees with red tissue for apples, or anything the children can come up with as ideas for their orchards. *Make Dried Apple Wreaths. (Note: Directions on how to make dried apples follows in cooking). Cut a wreath shape from cardboard. Glue dried apples rings around the wreath overlapping them. Gather some dried flowers & leaves to fill in the wreath. Add a bow at the top if you like. *We read Apples on Top (a Dr. Suess book). Apples on top project: (great for beginning of year to get to know names) -Cut out a skin colored oval out of construction paper -Color in face -Glue googly eyes and yarn for hair. Cut several pieces of 12x18 white construction paper in half On the top of each write "4 Apples on top of Jill" or whatever the child's name Make apple prints (apple cut in half) to make the appropriate number of apples for each letter of the child's name. Hand them around the name ....looks great for displaying a piece of work from everyone at Open House! *apple name tags and apple name plates *apple booklet *Apple Poem Apples big, Apples small. Guess what? I like them all. *Apple Prints: I have discovered a few things about doing apple prints so they come out looking like apples and not just circles. Cut the apples the day before you will use them for printing. Also, it is helpful to put the paint on a piece of paper towel in a tray. It becomes more like a stamp pad and the apples print better. *Anna Has Anna has a big red apple. Anna has a little axe. (Aussie spelling) Anna has an old ship's anchor, Hanging near the kitchen steps. Why does Anna have an apple? Why does Anna have an axe? Why does Anna have an anchor, Hanging near the kitchen steps? * We make apple muffins, and apple smiles. If you don't know what apple smiles are, you cut wedges of apple with the skins on. On one wedge, put peanut butter. Then put mimi-marshmallows on the peanut butter and cover with another apple wedge. The kids love making and eating this snack! * We make apple finger cubes: Pour 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin into a bowl. Add 2 cups boiling water. Stir until gelatin is dissolved. Ass one 6 oz can apple juice concentrate. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 9"x13" pan and chill. Cut in squares to serve. * We play "Pass the Apple" (like hot potato), when the music stops and the child is holding the apple, he goes into the "applepot" (the center of the circle). When all the "apples" are in the pot, we make applesauce, stir, add sugar, add cinnamon, taste, etc. Kids giggle a lot when they have to start jiggling and boiling. * A Little Apple Seed (Tune: Eensy, Weensy Spider) Once a little appleseed was planted in the ground Down came the raindrops, falling all around. Out came the big sun, bright as bright could be And that little apple seed grew to be an apple tree! * Apples Are Falling (Tune: Are You Sleeping?) Apples are falling, apples are falling From the tree, from the tree. Pick up all the apples, pick up all the apples, One. two, three; one, two,. three. (Use appropriate motions for actions) * Two Little Apples Two little apples hanging on a tree Two little apples smiling at me I shook that tree as hard as I could Down came the apples Mmmm were they good! *Apples Give each child an apple. Ask them to describe the apple using all their senses except taste. Then cut the apple in half - explain that they grow from seeds. Point out the various parts - invite them to count the seeds - cut the apple into bite size pieces - let them eat a piece and describe how the apple tastes. Read Johnny Appleseed - plant apple seeds - see what happens. Make applesauce *Apple Tree with Sponge Painting Draw a large tree on craft paper - cut a sponge into round pieces and attaa clothespin to the back of each piece. Give each child a clothespin sponge to dip into red tempera paint and dab on the tree to look like apples. *Taste Apples Try different types of apples such as green Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples. Invite the children to sample each kind of apple - take a survey - *Printing With Apples Make apple prints - cut apples in half crossways and point out the inside - help the children use a brush and tempra paint to paint the apple read - make a print - or on large butcher paper on the floor - draw a large A - let the children take turns printing apples along the outline of the A. *Print Apple Shapes Set out corks and shallow containers filled with red tempera paint. Give each child an apple tree shape cut out of construction paper. Let the children use the round ends of the corks to print "apples" on their tree shapes. After the paint has dried, use the prints for counting. *Apple Collage Give each child a small paper plate and a piece of red paper. Let the children tear their papers into small pieces. Then have them glue the pieces all over their paper plates. Add green paper stems and use the "apples" as room decorations. *Fingerpaint Apples Cut large apple shapes out of white butcher paper. Give each child an apple shape and a small amount of red fingerpaint. Let the children paint the apple shapes. Attach precut green leaves to the top of each apple when the shapes have dried.