During our recent apple theme we made a new batch of apple play dough. Then I set up this simple apple-inspired invitation to play.
FIND ALL OF OUR APPLE ACTIVITIES IN OUR PRINTABLE LESSON PLANS
FOR HOME PRESCHOOL AND PRESCHOOL CLASSROOMS.
We started with the basic No-Cook Play Dough Recipe in The Homemade Play Dough Recipe Book. Then we added red food coloring and a bit of apple scented shampoo to add a little hint of apple to our dough.
For the invitation to play Lovey and I collected some leaves and small twigs outside. Then we set them up in a tray along with pretend worms and red beans to represent seeds. You could also use real apple seeds, but we didn’t collect quite enough and I thought they might be too small for the toddlers to handle well.
At first the kids made things like apple pie, apple bread, wormy apples. etc.
Later they decided the worms needed a home other than an apple, so they built this “castle” complete with a two-car garage and new wheels to drive. Isn’t play dough an awesome way to promote creativity? I just love to see which direction their play takes them.
Often the kids will ask that I read aloud to them while they play with play dough. Below are some of the books we enjoyed reading about apples.
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.
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
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Melanie
Just found your page, adorable ideas? where do you get the little divided trays for your play dough experiences?
Melanie
Sorry no question mark, exclamation mark!!!!! I’ve already pinned several ideas!!!!!
Shaunna Evans
So glad you like the ideas we share here! We bought our divided trays at Walmart. They are usually in the seasonal tableware section. Dollar Tree also has similar trays.
Jill
My daughter loves play dough!
Thanks for sharing at Apples, Apples, and more Apples!
Jill
Beth
Love this playful idea! Thanks for linking up and sharing your creativity at TGIF! I featured this today. I hope to see you linked up again later today,
Have a great weekend,
Beth
Shaunna
Thanks so much, Beth! I love your linky, and I appreciate the feature.
Allison
The pretend worms are awesome. Love it. I’ll be featuring this on The Sunday Showcase this weekend. Thanks for linking up!
Shaunna
Aren’t they fun, Allison? That was definitely the kids favorite part of this invitation. Thanks so much for featuring this post.
Blayne
This is so awesome! The tray itself is super inviting. I want to play with it!
Shaunna
Thanks! It was hard not to join in on this one! 😉
Tricia
Oh my goodness this is too cute! And looks like a blast! I can’t wait to do this with my girls! Sharing and pinning!
Thanks so much for sharing your fabulous ideas as always! 🙂
Shaunna
Thank you! I hope your girls have lots of fun!
Ann @ My Nearest and Dearest
Lovely!
Sarah
I love this play dough tray! Your ideas for sensory play are great. Thanks for sharing.
Sarah
Shaunna
Thanks, Sarah! We had a lot of fun with this one.