Preschool Apple Activities

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Preschool apple activities are one of my favorite back to school themes! The apple theme is filled with fun activities to explore, books to share, and more. 

What activities can you explore with a preschool apple theme? Check out the apple activities for preschool in my apple theme lesson plan for ideas to get you started. It’s filled with opportunities to learn about apples, Johnny Appleseed, and all kinds of important early numeracy and literacy skills too. 

You can use apple activities to learn syllables, phonemes, letter recognition, and prepositions. Then, explore early math skills like subitizing, adding, and apple themed counting activities with your preschoolers. Finally, use these apple activities for preschoolers to learn important science lessons about density, apple life cycles, and the parts of an apple too. 

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What Can I Teach My Preschoolers About Apples?

I can teach all kinds of fun lessons about apples to my preschool learners! Plus, I can use a preschool apple theme to teach other important early learning skills too. Here are some of my favorite preschool apple activities to explore with preschool learners:

Apple Life Cycles

Each year, I talk about apple life cycles with my preschoolers. We learn how apples go through each process in the life cycle to turn into the fruit we know and love.

In this printable apple activities lesson plan, you’ll get an apple life cycle anchor chart to display for your preschoolers in the classroom. Plus, fun life cycle cards they can put in order. Connect these apple life cycle cards with Link ‘n’ Learn Links or glue them to a ribbon or strip of construction paper. 

You can use these apple life cycle cards to play a fun game of memory with your preschoolers too. It’s a hands-on apple activity that will help them remember every step in the life cycle.

Label Apples

To begin, I like to cut open a real apple and show my preschoolers each part of the apple. This real-life visual helps kids to remember the information on their own printable apple labeling pages.

Then, have kids label their own apple activity printables while you label the anchor chart.

Do Apples Sink or Float?

Begin by asking your preschoolers this important question: do apples sink or float? Then, use tally marks on the whiteboard to record how many students think the apple will sink and how many think it will float.

Next, drop an apple into a container of water while your preschoolers watch. You can ask them to draw what happened to the apple in your science experiment. Then, talk about why the apple floats. 

It’s a great hands-on apple activity you can use to teach your preschoolers about density and buoyancy. This experiment is also a fun way to introduce your preschoolers to the scientific method. 

Preschool Apple Activities for Language Arts

I’m a reading specialist, so I love teaching reading skills to my preschoolers. There are lots of great ways to learn important language arts lessons using apple activities! Check out some of my favorite apple activities for language arts and reading readiness in this preschool apple theme lesson plan:

Apple Syllables

Preschoolers need to master counting syllables in order to master reading words accurately and fluently later. You can help your preschoolers master syllables with the printable apple activity in this lesson plan. 

Appleseed Letters

Learning to recognize and identify letters is another important aspect of reading readiness for preschoolers. These adorable apple seed letters will help your kids learn to identify letters and build early handwriting skills as they use apple seeds or apple mini erasers to form the letters of the alphabet.

Fruity Sounds

Phonemic awareness means your kids can identify the sounds they hear in words. It’s an important skill for early readers to master. 

In this apple activity, your preschoolers will say the words on each apple, identify the initial sound, and choose the correct letter to place on top. You can use your own letter tiles or letter magnets for this preschool apple theme activity.

Preposition Easy Reader

Learn all about apples and prepositions too with this printable easy reader your preschoolers will love reading aloud with you as they explore apples this year.

Books About Apples to Read Aloud

I always include books in my printable lesson plan unit studies and this apple theme for preschool is no different. That’s because reading aloud to your preschoolers is the number one way to help them fall in love with books and get ready for reading while teaching important lessons and expanding their vocabulary too. Check out our favorite apple books to read aloud together:

• Apples for Everyone by Jill Esbaum
• Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins
• The Biggest Apple Ever by Steven Kroll
• Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg
• 10 Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss

These apple stories are sure to get your preschoolers excited to learn all about apples together this school year! Plus, they’re filled with opportunities to talk about tall tales, sharing with friends, comparing and contrasting, and even counting to 10.

Math Learning with Apple Activities

Speaking of counting, you can use apple activities to teach lots of important early math lessons too. In this apple themed preschool lesson plan, I’ve included 5 fun apple activities for building math skills. Plus, an art activity that will encourage your preschoolers to explore and learn about patterns. Check out these apple activities for math learning fun:

Same or Different?

Sorting objects is an important early math skills for your preschoolers to master. The ability to sort and categorize objects according to their similarities and differences builds problem solving skills. 

Your preschoolers can use these problem solving abilities in all kinds of situations. In math, mastering sorting helps kids learn to solve more complex equations later. With this apple activity, they can begin practicing in a fun hands-on way this school year.

Subitizing Seeds

Subitizing is all about being able to look at a small group of objects and recognize how many are there without needing to count each object individually. It’s a valuable early math skills that will help your preschoolers to be successful in solving equations throughout their academic career. 

You can encourage your preschoolers to build subitizing skills with a fun apple activity that’s all about counting groups of seeds. Group seeds together in small sets of 10 or less and encourage kids to practice identifying how many seeds are in each group.

Wanna practice subitizing with apples without lots of messy seeds? I’ve got you covered. Printable subitizing apple activity practice is perfect for a mess-free, no-prep math activity. Just print and have fun practicing with your preschoolers.

Roll, Roll, and Add

I love roll and cover printables for preschoolers. They’re so fun! This printable apple activity is a roll and cover that matches your apple themed lessons. Use it with dice to encourage your preschoolers to identify numbers and practice single digit addition too.

Make 10 Apple Activities for Kids

In this apple math activity, your kids will practice making ten with a fun dump and count activity. If you have the two sided yellow and red counters you can use those OR you can use the included apples. I think the apples add an extra bit of fun to the activity, so I’ll definitely be using them. Stick the counters or apples into a cup and shake them out onto the tree.

Your students will check to see how many apples are yellow and red. They then can record their answer on the provided worksheet. If you have some advanced mathematician, a good small group activity could be to teach them how to create an equation out of this.

On the other hand, you may have most of your kids needing to work with a smaller number. This activity also comes with a make five worksheet that’s perfect for introducing this to beginner mathematicians.

Apple Theme Number Mats

Number mats are another fun hands-on learning activity for preschoolers. I’ve created these preschool apple theme number mats to help you explore number identification, counting skills, and build fine motor skills with your preschoolers using playdough or clay and these adorable apple mats.

Just print, laminate, and have fun completing the early math activities on these apple theme number mats with your preschoolers.

Apple Themed Patterns

Another fun way to practice math skills with your preschoolers is by creating patterns. Preschool kids can create patterns, collages, or just have fun getting creative with this apple slice painting activity.

Apple Snacks to Share

Are you looking for even more fun ways to make learning all about apples fun with your preschoolers this school year? Sharing apple themed snacks is another fun way you can explore apples together. 

Themed snacks help kids remember all the important lessons they’re learning by tying in a multisensory experience with the lesson. Check out my favorite apple snacks to share with preschoolers:

• Homemade Applesauce
• Baked Apple Chips
• Apple Slices with peanut butter or yogurt
• Candy Apples or Caramel Apples
• Apple Donuts
• Apple Nachos

Don’t forget to serve your snacks with apple cider or apple juice for even more apple learning fun! Then, extend the lesson by making applesauce together & completing my How To Make Applesauce reading activity for preschoolers.

Apple Themed Art Activities

Finally, don’t forget about arts and crafts. Apple activities are a great way to practice reading, writing, and early math skills too. However, these apple art activities will help your preschoolers build important fine motor skills, encourage them to think critically, and give them opportunities to explore their own creativity too.

Creative art activities are a great way to help your preschoolers build self-confidence and learn to express themselves and their emotions through art. I’ve included one of my favorite art activities with an apple theme in these lesson plans. 

Johnny Appleseed crafts for kids

You can’t have an apple theme without learning all about Johnny Appleseed. Each year as we learn about the man who traveled the world planting appleseeds, we create a fun Johnny Appleseed craft.

This craft is simple to do and can be easily customized. Simply change the color of paper you use to alter the skin tone or clothing choices for your Johnny Appleseed craft.

Apple Handprint Craft

Handprint crafts always turn out into fantastic childhood keepsakes. I love how this preschool apple craft include the process of tear art to create the perfect apple handprint craft for kids.

To recreate this gather some colored paper, scissors, glue and follow the steps below.

1. Print the preschool apple craft template.
2. Tear small pieces of construction paper and glue it on the apple template.
3. Cut and glue a brown rectangle on the back of the apple craft.
4. Trace your child’s hand on green paper and glue it behind the apple for a leaf.

Painting with Apple Slices

This activity is perfect for exploring apples in a creative way while learning about the art of stamping and practicing patterns too. Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 to 3 apples, cut in half (or apple sponges)
• Washable finger paint in a variety of colors
• Paper plates or bowls (to contain the paint)
• Paper

Once you’ve gathered your supplies, encourage your preschoolers to submerge their apple halves open side down in the paint color of their choice. Then, stamp the paint covered apple on the paper.

You could also choose to pretend to pick apples and create a basket of apples. After you’ve stamped your fruit onto the paper, cut strips of brown paper and glue it on top for a cute apple craft for kids.

In Conclusion

I hope all these apple activities in this apple theme for preschool has you excited about exploring apples this school year. I know I am!

Share your favorite apple learning activity for preschoolers in the comments. I can’t wait to read about all your ideas and try a few in my classroom too as we head back to school!