Tinker loves any activity that involves water play, so I recently set up this simple “bobbing” for apples fall activity for her. It’s a fun way to practice fine motor skills. You can also incorporate counting and sorting activities with these materials.
FIND ALL OF OUR APPLE ACTIVITIES IN OUR PRINTABLE LESSON PLANS
FOR HOME PRESCHOOL AND PRESCHOOL CLASSROOMS.
I started with a large bowl full of water. Then we added some decorative apples that I found at Walmart in the floral section. Tinker had fun uses tongs to “bob” for apples.
At first she simply concentrated on picking up the apples with the tongs. She was working hard! In the picture above you’ll see her little mouth was opening and closing along with the tongs–this is normal to see as kids are developing their ability to use tongs, scissors, and similar tools.
Once she was more comfortable with picking up the apples, she naturally started sorting them by color. You can also invite kids to do this by setting colored bins out with your original play invitation.
This activity was a bit too easy for Lovey, but she wanted to give it a try. She found it quite entertaining to try and pick up two apples at a time…which led to a lot of apples bouncing around and a lot of giggles from both girls.
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
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More Fun with Apples
Click here to see all of our apple activities!
Rebecca
Thank you for the awesome idea! Love it. Where do you get those apples?
Shaunna Evans
So glad you like it! We found these apples at Walmart, but I’ve seen similar ones at craft stores in the fall.
Kalista
What a great idea! I am doing an apple theme with my two middle children and they would both love this (heck, so will the older one). I am pinning this so I don’t forget! Thanks for sharing!
Shaunna Evans
I’m so glad you like the idea, Kalista! And you’re right even older kids find a bit of fun in activities like this. My oldest did for sure.
Susen @ Dabbling Momma
such a fun and easy way to work on fine motor skills!
Clare
This looks like a lot of fun – I’m pinning it to my activities board.
Selena @ Look! We're Learning!
Thanks for this! I’ve been looking for fine motor activities, especially for our youngest boy who has a hard time manipulating small objects without crushing them…lol. Pinning!
Shaunna Evans
Oh, I know that stage, Selena! I hope your little guy enjoys trying this one.