Okay, am I the only one daydreaming of fall? I can’t help it. I hope you don’t mind if I share some fun fall activities this week. We just finished up our apple theme, and I can’t wait any longer to share! One of our invitations to play was this lovely apple cinnamon sensory bin.
FIND ALL OF OUR APPLE ACTIVITIES IN OUR PRINTABLE LESSON PLANS
FOR HOME PRESCHOOL AND PRESCHOOL CLASSROOMS.
Materials
- Oats
- Cinnamon Sticks
- Miniature Apples (ours are from the Walmart craft section)
- Red glass gems
- Small wooden buckets (ours are from JoAnn Fabric & Crafts)
I knew the toddlers would really enjoy this sensory bin, but Lovey also spent a lot of time playing with it, too.
The small buckets were a great size for scooping and pouring the oats.
After the kids dumped in the mini “apple” gems, they had fun getting scoops of oats and searching for the “hidden treasure.”
The cinnamon sticks were not only great for the sensory experience, they also inspired a lot of pretend play. The kids used them as utensils to “cook” oatmeal and apple pie.
They also used them as drumsticks to make music.
As usual I loved to see their imaginations at work!
GET A FULL WEEK OF APPLE THEME LEARNING AND PLAY
Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.
Help children learn more about apples in a playful hands-on way with the apple activities in this comprehensive set of lesson plans for preschool, PreK and TK classrooms. This apple theme preschool lesson plan pack can be used during the fall, back-to-school time, in conjunction with a fruit theme, aligned with exploring the letter A, etc. Watch this short video to see just a few examples of the types of activities and printables included in this set:
This set includes active hands-on learning ideas and the following printables:
- Apple Number Cards (0-35)
- “Counting Apples” emergent reader
- “I See Apples” emergent reader
- Apple Letters (uppercase and lowercase in both red and green)
- Apple Life Cycle Cards (in color and b/w)
- Label the Apple Diagram (in color and b/w) with labeling cards
- Apple Pattern Cards
- Put the Apples on the Tree Game Mat
- Editable cover and pages for a class apple book
GET YOUR LESSON PLANS
Home Preschool Apple Theme Lesson Plans
Preschool Classroom Apple Theme Lesson Plans
All of our products are also available on Teachers Pay Teachers if you prefer to shop there.
More Apple Sensory Play
I love the elements and colors in this Apple Themed Sensory Box from Pink and Green Mama.
Teaching Mama also has some great sensory and learning activities. There’s even a free printable.
Suzanne Holt
Very fun way to engage kids in learning about fall. Thanks for sharing!
Pinkoddy
What a great idea for the new season – the sticks would give off a great smell too.
Shaunna
Thanks! The sticks give a lovely, yet subtle scent that is just wonderful.
Deb @ Living Montessori Now
This looks so inviting! I love your sensory tubs, Shaunna! I featured your post and photo in my 30+ Apple Sensory Tubs post today. 🙂
Shaunna
Thank you so much, Deb! I definitely pinned your post…so many fun ideas to try!
marcjanna
I love it so much, I had to prepare one for my kids.
Shaunna
I’m so glad you liked the idea. Thank you so much for linking back to this post and sharing with me. I hope your kids had fun!
Allison
I love this bin! So many wonderful things about fall in this bin. 🙂 Is it weird that I kind of want to go make apple cinnamon oatmeal now? I’ll be featuring this on The Sunday Showcase this weekend. Thanks for linking up!
Shaunna
Not weird at all! We’ve been playing with cinnamon sticks a lot lately, and I’ve been dreaming of all sorts of cinnamon oatmeal and fall goodies! Thanks for featuring this post.
Tina
This sounds like fun. I’ll be using it with my daycare kids (4 & 6) and I know both will love it. You mention “hidden treasure” – what is the treasure? Just the red stones that fall to the bottom or something else?
Thanks!
Shaunna
I hope they have fun! Yes, the kids started calling the red stones “treasure.” Little imaginations at work 🙂
Diana Rambles
Love it!!
OneMommy
Oh, I can just smell the cinnamon! Pinned it!
sarah
This is a beautiful fall and apple themed bin! I would love for you to stop by and share when you have a chance!
sarah
Thank you for stopping by and sharing! I hope you will come back and leave another great idea. I can smell this one. I love fall!
Shaunna
I love the scents of fall, too!
Angela @ Teaching Mama
I bet this smells amazing! I love a sensory bin with oats 🙂
Shaunna
Thanks, Angela! This was our first bin with oats, and I agree–great material.
Ann @ My Nearest and Dearest
This has me dreaming of fall too! Lovely sensory activity. 🙂
Jamie@SouthMainMuse
One of my favorite things about fall is the feast it is for the senses — and smell certainly being one. I’ve got my pumpkin spice candle burning — though it’s still in the 80s outside.
Shaunna
I think that’s what I enjoy most about fall, too. It will be in the 80s most of fall where we live, so we try to bring the scents and temperatures of fall indoors. 🙂
Nicole @ The Kavanaugh Report
This is a wonderful idea! I’m sure the cinnamon sticks smelled great all week. I’m pinning this to my Sensory bin board!!
Shaunna
They did smell great…just a subtle touch of fall! Thanks for pinning.