Thursday, September 30, 2010

Eva's Apple Farm


We had so much fun at the apple orchard yesterday that we decided to make our own apple farm!  I cut out four trees and glued them to a piece of paper.  Then I asked Eva to tell me some numbers.  She chose 4, 2, 5 and 3 and I wrote them on the trunk of each tree.  Eva then used her red paint dabber to make the corresponding number of apples on each tree.
A quick, fun craft and great practice for counting!  When the apples were dry I hung it with some of her other fall masterpieces.  This simple gallery is just a piece of twine hanging from a nail that was already in the door and clothespins to hold the artwork in place.
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Apple Picking

We went to the apple orchard yesterday to pick some apples.  It was so much fun!
When we got home we counted the apples (21!) and sorted them into three categories- red, green and both red and green.
We recited a favorite apple poem as we worked:
Apple, apple green
Apple, apple red
An apple fell on Eva's head!
We also made some apple prints.  I cut the apples in half and pushed plastic forks in to use as handles.  It worked really well and made it so much easier for Eva to lift the apples out of the paint and off the paper.


I cored one of the halves so that the "star" was visible like Stacie at the Amazing Mess did and Eva used white paint to stamp some apple blossoms along with her apples.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Apple Sequencing

We've been talking a lot about how trees change through the seasons so I made a simple apple tree sequence for Eva to work with.  On 4x6 index cards I drew an apple tree in each season and then let Eva put them in order.
The winter tree is bare, the spring one has blossoms, the summer ones has smal green apples and the fall on has big red ones.  They were such a big hit, I made another apples sequence for her too.
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Apple Pie Playdough

I made a fresh batch of playdough especially for apple week.  Rather than putting in food coloring or Kool-Aid, I just added a few shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg.  It has a nice crust color to it and it smells heavenly!  Eva set out with her rolling pin, a few small pie tins and some pom pom "apples" and got to baking.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Apples Aplenty

One of the yummiest things about fall is all the apples!  We live in the heart of apple country so there is no shortage of apple related fun.

Crafts
Apple Prints- no apple week is complete without these

Apple Tree Counting Craft- we'll make a few trees and then dab on apples to practice counting

10 Apples up on Top- like the story book, we'll be stacking paper apples

Sliced Apple- we'll use a Q-tip to paint the seeds on our own cross section of an apple

Yarn Apples- we'll be making these cuties using yarn and pipe cleaners

Activities
Apple Picking- we'll take a trip to an apple orchard to pick some of our own apples

Apple Sequencing- Eva will learn about the lifecycle of an apple

Apple Festival- if we get a chance, we'll head to a local town's apple festival

Apple Pie Playdough- I made a batch of playdough scented with cinnamon for Eva to pretend to make pies with

Cooking
There are so many things to make with apples.  We'll try our hand at applesauce, apple crisp and even do some apple tasting.

Songs and Finger Plays
Two Little Apples
Ten Little Apples
Apple, Apple Red

Books
The Apple Pie Tree Ten Red Apples Ten Red Apples (Bartholomew & George) Ten Apples Up on Top! [10 APPLES UP ON TOP-BOARD] Applesauce Season How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World (Dragonfly Books) Apples, Apples, Apples Apple Cider-Making Days (Single Titles) Up, Up, Up! It's Apple-picking Time Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 Yellow Moon, Apple Moon One Red Apple

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Acorn Painting

This is such a fun way to paint!  We had done something during the summer with tomatoes and blueberries and Eva had loved it.  This time we dipped acorns in paint and then rolled them around on the paper for some fall abstract paintings.
Eva chose three fall colored paints- red, orange and brown to dip the acorns in.  She then used a spoon to scoop them out and drop them onto yellow paper that I had placed in a shoe box lid.
Then she tipped the box lid back and forth allowing the acorns to roll around.
She had so much fun, she made three paintings.  I like them so much I'm planning on framing them and hanging them in our dining room.
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