An apple day really can keep the doctor away.
It is one of the healthiest foods around.
When it comes to preschoolers, apples are what you give your teacher when you like them, they are what the letter "A" stands for and you can snack on them! It's a trifecta! There are many preschool activities that you can perform surrounding the almighty apple.
Placemats There are a couple of different ways to do apple placemats.
One is having the kids color an apple coloring page.
The other is to cut an apple in half and dip in colored paint to make imprints on construction or white paper.
Add leaves or eyes if you like.
Apple Trees Have the kids decorate a tree with apple ornaments that they color or have them fingerpaint an apple tree.
Who Needs Mr.
Potatohead? Print out an apple template and have the children color them.
Go a bit further and glue on a face, funny eyes, stems, feet, arms, etc.
You can either get these body parts at a craft store or have the preschoolers draw them and glue them on.
Worms in the Apples! Cut out some apple templates for the children to color.
Then, have them punch some holes into the apple for the worm to come out of.
Use a pipe cleaner if you like for the worm.
Johnny Appleseed Have an apple hidden in a bag and let the kids reach in to feel what it is and see if they can guess correctly.
Have them describe the apple.
Review these descriptions after you have revealed the apple to the preschoolers.
Did anyone know it was an apple? Tell them the story of Johnny Appleseed and what he did for people.
Field Trip! Depending on where you live, you may be able to take the children to an apple orchard so they can pick their own apples.
If not, buy some different types and let them go on a "trip" at the school to pick apples.
Make Candied Apples Buy some caramel coating and apples at the store.
Bring in some wax paper and popsicle sticks.
Jam a stick into the apple; let the kids dip them into the caramel, place on the wax paper for drying.
Show and Tell Have the kids bring in their favorite type of apple and share.
Then cut them in half to reveal the seeds.
Make some faces out with the seeds or plant them to watch them grow.
Paper Mache Apples Use inflated balloons for the form of the apple.
Mix flour and water together and dip newspaper strips into the mixture.
Apply the strips to cover the balloon in its entirety.
After the balloons are dry have the preschoolers paint and decorate the apples.
Apple Rolling Put some paper on the bottom of a box.
Dip the apples into different color paint(s) and then drop the apples into the box.
Rock and roll the box every which direction you can and the paper will record the designs from the rolling apple.
These are just a few ideas out of hundreds that you can choose from.
It's always good to throw in some information about apples when working with preschoolers.
While performing any apple activity with the preschoolers, teach them about the object as well.
Most importantly: have fun!