Title: A Little Apple Seed
Sung to 'Eensy, Weensy, Spider'
Once a little apple seed
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 up
To be an apple tree.
Title: Apple A Day Snack
Serve a different apple each day for snack. Red apples, green, yellow, and even brown (russet). Make an apple dip by stirring some brown sugar into plain yogurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired.
Title: Apple Magic
Perform a little science magic with this simple experiment. You will need a large bowl of water, a carrot and an apple. First, ask the children what they think will happen when an apple or a carrot is put in the bowl. Place the carrot in the bowl first; then remove it and place the apple in the bowl. What happens? Why? Explain to the children that foods like carrots and apples vary greatly in the amount of air they contain. Carrot matter is packed very tightly and is very heavy, making the carrot sink. The apple is not packed as tightly and has many air spaces, which allow it to float. Slice the apple and carrot for more observation.
Title: Apple Muffins
Make some yummy apple muffins. Take a packaged mix of oatmeal muffin mix and add a cup of peeled and chopped apples. Bake as usual. Truly delicious!
Title: Apple Sauce Snack
Make a pot full of applesauce with the children in the morning and serve for afternoon snack! Preparing it is lots of fun and presents a wonderful opportunity to talk with the children. What must we do first, what comes next,
watch and see what happens to the apples.
8 apples, peeled and sliced
1 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Heat apples in water until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes until tender; stir periodically and add water if necessary. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook until apples are mushy. Cool and serve.
Title: Apple Seeds
Before cutting open an apple, ask the children to predict how many seeds there will be inside. Cut the apple in half horizontally and let the children observe the 'star' that holds the seeds. Count the seeds with the children and have them compare the number with their predictions. Try the experiment with another apple. Does it have the same number of seeds as the first one? Try the same experiment using a different colored apple.
Extension: Set out apple seeds (with several of them cut in half) and let the children examine them with a magnifying glass. If desired, provide other kinds of fruit seeds for comparing.
Title: Apple Seeds
Before cutting open an apple, ask the children to predict how many seeds there will be inside. Cut the apple in half horizontally and let the children observe the 'star' that holds the seeds. Count the seeds with the children and have them compare the number with their predictions. Try the experiment with another apple. Does it have the same number of seeds as the first one? Try the same experiment using a different colored apple.
Extension: Set out apple seeds (with several of them cut in half) and let the children examine them with a magnifying glass. If desired, provide other kinds of fruit seeds for comparing.
Title: Apple Song
Sung to 'Have You Ever Seen A Lassie?'
Have you ever seen an apple, an apple, an apple,
Have you ever seen an apple, that grows on a tree?
A red one, a yellow one, a red one, a yellow one.
Have you ever seen an apple, that grows on a tree?
Title: Apple Tree
Decorate your room with apple trees. Draw a tree on large craft paper. Let the children paint the trunk, branches and leaves. Then add some apples that have been drawn by the children. You can make red, green and yellow apple trees.
Title: Apple Tree Finger Play
Away up high in the apple tree, (Form tree with hands)
Two red apples smiled at me. (Smile)
I shook that tree as hard as I could (shake hands)
And down came the apples,
Mmm...were they good!!! (rub tummy)
Title: Baked Apples Snack
Make baked apples for the children to enjoy at snack time. Wash and core one apple per child. Place apples upright in a baking dish. Fill centers of apples with raisins and brown sugar. Sprinkle some cinnamon on top. Bake for one hour at 350. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Sure to be a hit!
Title: Climbing Up The Apple Tree
Climbing up the apple tree, (climb in place)
Swinging on a limb! (Raise arms above head, away left and right)
If I hear a robin, I may (cup hand near ear)
Sing along with him! (sing tra la la)
'And Robin, if you fly away, (Put hands over eyes)
Here's what I think I'll do: (Point with index finger)
I'll wish a pair of sparrow wings (gently flap arms at side and move around)
And fly away with you!'
Title: Dissecting Apples
Show your children three apples - one red, one green, and one yellow. Ask them to name the colors. Then discuss how they are all apples despite their different colors. Take a knife and cut each one open side-ways. Point out how the seeds inside from a star. Discuss how the apples are all different on the outside, yet the same on the inside. Turn your discussion to people. Talk about how people, like apples, are all different on the outside, yet the same on the inside.
Title: Eat An Apple
Eat an apple; (Bring right hand to mouth)
Save the core. (Close right hand in fist)
Plant the seeds. (Bend down touch hand to ground)
And grow some more. (Extend both arms out)
Title: Have You Ever Had An Apple?
Sung to 'Have You Ever Seen A Lassie?'
Have you ever had an apple, an apple, an apple?
Have you ever had an apple and heard it go 'crunch'?
Have you ever had an orange, an orange, an orange? Have you ever had an orange and heard it go 'slurp'?
Have you ever had a banana, a banana, a banana? Have you ever had a banana and heard it go 'mush'?
Title: Learning With Apples
Counting: Divide apples in halves or fourths. Let your children decide how many apples will be needed for everyone to receive a piece.
Counting: When you cut open an apple, let your children count the number of seeds inside.
Feeling: Place three different fruits - such as an orange, a banana, and a apple - in a bag. Let your children touch each fruit without looking in the bag. Can they identify the apple by its characteristics?
Smelling: Cut open three different fruits. Have your children close their eyes and try to identify each by its smell.
Title: Paper Plate Apples
Let the children paint the back sides of paper plates red to make 'apple halves.' When the paint has dried, attach precut construction paper leaves and stems. Then let the children each glue a few apple seeds in the centers of the
white sides of their plates. (Use seeds from other activities in this unit.)
Title: Stuffed Baked Apples
Ingredients: Firm baking apples, Butter or marg., Sugar, Hot water, Filling for Apples
Fillings: raisins or walnuts or honey or banana slices or prunes or nutmeg or brown sugar or coconut or cinnamon candies or orange slices or pineapple.
Toppings: ice cream or peanut butter or whipped cream or cheese or vanilla pudding or granola or custard or lemon sherbet or jelly
Core apples and sprinkle with 1 t. sugar. Set in baking dish. Stuff apple (combine several if you with). Pour hot water to cover bottom of dish. Bake 400 30-35 min. Spoon liquid over apples every 10 min. while cooking. Cool
Title: Ten Red Apples
Here I have five apples. (hold up five fingers on right hand)
And here are five again. (hold up both hands)
How many apples altogether?
Why, five and five make ten!
Title: Two Little Apples
Sung to 'This Old Man')
Way up high, in a tree: (raise hands over head)
Two red apples smiled at me (smile)
So I shook that tree as har-r-d as I could; (Pretend to shake tree)
Down came the apples, Umm, they were good!!!! (Rub tummy)
Have An "A Is For Apple" Day:
Science: Place apple slices on two plates. Sprinkle lemon juice on one plate of apples then instruct the children to keep checking the apples on both plates throughout the morning. Of course, the ones without lemon juice will turn brown. Talk about how these changes were caused by the air but the lemon juice protected the one plate of apples.
Snacktime: Discuss textures, colors, and tastes of various forms of apples (candied, pie filling, dried, applesauce, etc).
Gross Motor Game: "Worm Through the Apple": Children stand in a line with feet spread approximately 18" apart. One child, the worm, crawls through the apple (their legs). Let the children take turns being the worm.
Math: Do a pre-fractions activity with the group: Cut an apple in half, then in fourths, then in eighths, counting pieces as you go and pointing out 1/4th or 1/8th.
Fingerplay/Creative Drama: Act out the familiar rhyme, "Way Up High In the Apple Tree" see words below). You be the tree holding up two apples (red, green, or yellow rolled-up socks). Let each child shake the tree, making the apples fall, then pretending to eat them while repeating the rhyme. This is also fun to do outside by placing the sock-apples in branches of a real tree then have the children shake them out.
Take-Home Textured A: Children do apple prints on an A cutout, using thick paint. Remember to cut the apples so that the star inside will show. It's extra special
if the children can glue on a little stem piece (real one) and a few real seeds to at least one of the prints on their A!
Way Up High In the Apple Tree
Way up high in the apple tree,
Two little apples smiled down at me,
I shook that tree as hard as I could,
Down came the apples, ...Um, they were good!
Here's the version I use of "The Little Red House With No Doors."
Have with you (but hidden) an apple and knife. You will need to cut the apple at the end of the story:
Once upon a time there was a little boy named Billy who was tired of playing with his toys. He asked his mother, "Can you give me something to do?" "OK, go see if you can find a little red house that doesn't have any windows or doors but it has a star inside. Come back as soon as you can." So Billy started out and he soon found a little girl and he asked her, "Do you know where I can find a little red house that doesn't have any windows or doors but it has a star inside?" "Ask my daddy, he may know." So Billy found her daddy and asked him, "Do you know where I can find a little red house with no windows and doors but it has a star inside?" The daddy laughed and said, "I've never seen anything like that before--go ask my little girl's Grandma--she knows everything!" So Billy asked the Grandma, "Please tell me, where can I find a little red house with no windows and doors but it has a star inside?" The Grandma answered, "I'd like to find that house myself, it would be warm in the winter and the starlight would be beautiful. Go ask the wind--maybe he knows." The wind whistled by Billy and Billy said, "Oh wind, can you help me find a little red house with no windows and doors but it has a star inside?" The wind couldn't talk but it blew hard pushing Billy to where there was an apple tree. The wind shook the branches and down came a beautiful red apple. Billy picked it up and looked at it. It was a little red house. It didn't have any windows or doors but he couldn't see it inside. So he took it home to his mother so she could cut it for him. She cut it and there right in the middle was a star holding little brown seeds. Billy smiled and said, "I found it!"
Note: In order to reveal the star, you must hold the apple with the stem pointing to the side while cutting it. After telling the story, ask questions about it to see who was wearing their listening ears!
APPLES
THIS UNIT WILL HELP CHILDREN GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF DIFFERENT APPLES, WHERE THEY ARE GROWN, AND WHAT CAN BE MADE FROM THEM. THIS UNIT ALSO TEACHES THE SKI LLS OF: LISTENING, FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS, COUNTING, SORTING, MEASURING, COLOR RECOGNITION, COMPARING/CONTRASTING, IDENTIFYING DIRECTIONS, OBSERVATION/PREDICTION, AND MAKING CHOICES
THE TEACHER NEEDS TO HAVE A BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF DIFFERENT APPLES, WHERE THEY ARE GROWN, AND WHAT CAN BE MADE FROM THEM. SHE ALSO NEEDS TO HAVE RESEARCHED AND READ BOOKS ABOUT APPLES AND TEACHING AN APPLE UNIT.
THE GOALS FOR THIS UNIT ARE TO: DEMONSTRATE THE USE OF EACH OF THE FIVE SENSES, IDENTIFY AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS, INTERPRET VARIOUS PIECES OF LITERATURE, AND APPLY MATH READINESS AND SCIENCE SKILLS
Children's Stories
Let children predict the outcome of the stories based on observations of the titles and book covers. After listening to the stories, have children recall details (provide oral or visual prompts as needed). Have them compare and contrast their predictions with the actual story.
Johnny Appleseed, by Steven Kellogg
The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein
Ten Apples Up On Top, by Dr. Seuss
Snow White, by Disney books (Grolier)
Picking Apples and Pumpkins, by Amy Richard Hutchings
Rain Makes Applesauce, by Julian Scheer
Activities:
Sorting Apples By Color: On a table have one basket of apples (different colors--red, yellow, green). On the same table have three other baskets, each having a picture of one of the colors of apples on it. The children sort the apples by color into the three baskets.
Counting Apples: After having sorted the apples by color, the children will count the number of apples in each basket.
Comparing Apple Patterns: Cut one apple down from the stem and cut another one going across. Show the children the star and oval patterns inside both apples and ask them to compare the two patterns by telling what they see.
Let children weigh apples on a scale and compare them.
Estimation: Have the children estimate how many seeds are in an apple. Cut the apple and have the students count the apple seeds and compare the amount with their estimations.
Apple Pre-Math: Draw a line on paper plates to divide them in half. Place various numbers of apple stickers on the halves. Then have children count the number of apples on the halves and on the whole apples (pre-addition/subtraction).
Apple Basket: Materials: Apple ornaments (or red pom-poms) and four small baskets with varying numbers of construction paper worms on the outside. Children match the number of apples to a given number of worms on the baskets then fill the baskets with the correct number of apples.
Comparison/Contrasting Peeled Apple and Potato: Peel an apple and a potato. Have the children use their senses to describe what they feel, see, smell, hear, and taste.
Apple Taste Test: At snack time, have Red Delicious apples and Granny Smith apples out for the children to taste. Have them tell you which ones are sweet and which ones are tart (sour). Take a poll and see which one was the class favorite. Make a simple graph of the results and a simple chart to record the majority opinion about each of the apples.
Map Observation: Have the children gather in a circle and show them a map of the United States. Point out states where apples are grown. Have children repeat the state names.
Creative Art: Have children draw or construct their own interpretation of an apple. During group time, have them share their apple creations.
Letter A Collage: Have children bring pictures from home that begin with the letter A. On an apple cutout, have them make a collage with their pictures. Record children's comments on their collages.
Apple Sponge Prints: Provide apple-shaped sponges and tempera paints (red, yellow, green) in the Art Center for the children. Have the children dip the sponges into the paint and make apple prints.
Class Cookbook: After the children bring in recipes from home, help them make a "Class Cookbook" of healthy recipes. Listen to children's comments of their recipes. Use clasps or rings to bind the recipe cards together. Extension from Stormie: What a great idea to start in the beginning of the year and continue to the end of the year at which time you would have several recipes. You could record children's comments on the pages too.
Make Applesauce: Peel, core, and slice apples, allowing the children to assist as much as possible. They can also help measure out the amounts of water, honey, and cinnamon. Cook the apples until tender. Note from Stormie: An electric skillet is great for cooking in the classroom when you don't have access to a children's kitchen.
Fingerplay:
The Apple
Up in the apple tree, high off the ground, (look up and point)
I see an apple, so big and round (shape circle with hands)
I climb up the tree, and hold on tight. (pretend to climb)
I pick that apple, and take a big bite! (pick apple and bite)
M-M-M-M Good!
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