Thursday, September 22, 2011

Outrageous Apple Fun!

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We had an absolute BLAST with our apple fun day yesterday! Check it out….there are FREE downloads at the end :-)
Felt apples
A few weeks ago, I made the cute little felt apples (24 of them). They were super easy to make and we used them for so many things! To make one, all you need is colored felt (apple color, off white, brown and green), thread and some pins to hold it together while you sew. Cut 2 apple shapes, a middle white shape and the stem and leaf. Sew the middle part onto one apple colored piece. Now put the back apple colored piece on (putting the stem and leaf up the top of the apple)….hold it all together with pins while you sew around it. It really didn’t take me long to make at all…….you could always use colored paper cut into apple shapes if you don’t like to sew :-) Here’s what we used our apples for :
Seed coutning and patterns
We counted apple seeds and made apple patterns (I made red, yellow, light green and dark green apples so there was opportunity for LOTS of different patterns).
Channing was able to make an apple graph (by himself) and do some addition (using two apples and some “seeds” – dried black beans).
Counting and Winslow
These pictures turned out REALLY small (and here I was thinking they’d be REALLY big!)……so I know you can’t see it well but the top picture shows Channing using an apple basket counting mat (available in the download), some mega big pom poms and tongs……the mat is included in the download for you :-)
The bottom picture was Channing’s favorite activity of the day….”Where’s Winslow?”…..Winslow is a worm who kids behind apple numbers. In the download I have included the numbers to 20 but Channing and I just played with the numbers up to 10. Spread the numbers out, hide Winslow behind one and give your child 3 guesses to find him (they must say the number name before turning the card over)……we played this for AGES!!!
Printing and measuring
We made some apple prints (for a craft you’ll see further down the page) and then measured how tall we were with apple (we made a guess first).

Appleseed pic
We read “Johnny Appleseed” by Jodie Shepherd (a hit) and them made these adorable pot hats. These took all of 5 minutes to make and Channing LOVED it (he wore it most of the da…..Sully’s on the other hand lasted all of 2 minutes before it was torn off). All I used was black construction paper….cut it length ways and stapled it to fit his head. I then added the handle. We cut out apple shapes, glued them on our hat and added a name plate……..SIMPLE!!! I added little black lines around the apple shapes to make them look a little cuter too.
Craft
We also completed these  crafts (included in the download). The apple one goes along with a poem (that you can also download).
Graphing and Adding
Channing was able to make a graph out of the apples (by himself) and then we did some apple addition (using two apples and “seeds” – dried back beans).
Apple snack
After all that, it was time for a snack…..and a delicious one at that! How cute are these mini caramel apples!?! Again, these were sooooo easy to make! I put a dob of caramel in the bottom of a mini cupcake liner. Next I  used a melon baller to make a “mini” apple. I stuck a candy stick in the apple and them squished it in the caramel. You could be adventurous and add M&M’s etc. but with Sully’s peanut allergy, all of that is out in our house! We did drizzle some chocolate syrup on t5hem though…….They were delicious (and just  the right size for a sweet snack).
Apple wreath
The apple wreath was my favorite part of the day!!! I saw this idea here  and LOVED it! We printed out apples earlier in the day so they would dry. I cut out a large circle out of brown scrapbooking card (you could use a cut out paper plate) and we glued our apples on. We added a stem (we used colored paper but you could use a stick or pipe cleaners) and a green heart leaf (you could paint this when you do the apples if you wanted). We them added some raffia bow and some apple “seeds” (dried beans). This will be hanging in the service porch of our student home tonight :-)
Mini unit pic
This mini unit will soon be listed in my TPT store.

You’ll find the apple counting mat, a pattern recording paper. an addition paper, the Johnny Appleseed craft, the apple poem craft, Where’s Winslow? game and a fun apple paper  (which I didn’t include in any of the pictures above).
Poem pictures
Click on the picture above to download the apple poem cards. My aim with these cards is to print, laminate and then stick them on a ring clip so that by the end of the year I’ll have a bunch of poems at my fingertips!
I hope you’ll use and enjoy these activities. If you do download them, I’d love a comment (it always makes me happy to know that other people can use what I create).
Happy Apple season everyone!

15 comments:

Kerri Buckner said...

Thanks for sharing. We're in the middle of our apple unit.

Holly said...

So cute! You guys were busy, but it looks like so much fun!

Miller Moments said...

You are just sooooo talented! :)

Annette W. said...

Very cute, as always. I like the idea of the mini unit...easy to navigate!

Unknown said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE!! You are amazing!

Jill said...

I am very excited to use these ideas- thank you so much for sharing your hard work and good ideas.

Jill

Amber Unger said...

LOVE the mini pack! Thank you! Love the ideas and the photos. :)

Meredith said...

Can't wait to make our hats on Monday. You add a special touch with your flair and great eye.

Kiersten said...

LOVE this!! we're starting our apple unit next week & this is perfect for my firsties :) thanks for sharing!

Tessa said...

How wonderful! Thanks for sharing! Love the picture of Channing's hat! Too cute!
Tessa
Spotlight on Kindergarten

kinderdi said...

Thanks for the great apple ideas!

Anonymous said...

Hi Michelle, I'm a big fan of your site. I love your printable units and packs. Could you please e-mail me wonderland preschool pack at sunnycranapple2@gmail.com. Thank you. Sandy

becky@purposefulhomemaking.com said...

LOVED this! Thanks for the ideas. Plan to check your blog out more!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the downloads! We are doing our apple themes now, and with a Kinder program and a 2nd grade program I can totally tailor these for both kids!

Louanne said...

Thanks! This looks so fun.