Nothing gets me in the Back-to-School or Fall spirit like apples! I love using them in deserts, using apple-themed decor around our homeschool room, and of course I LOVE lighting up our favorite apple candles! So it comes as no surprise that I NEEDED to include an apple Preschool theme in our Preschool curriculum!
If you want to add some seasonal fun in your little time, this apple Preschool theme is a perfect way to keep their little hands and brains engaged with Math and Literacy practice! Below you’ll find tons of activities that combine fine motor skills practice with tons of apple theme Math and Literacy skills!
Table of Contents – CLICK to jump ahead!
Apple Theme Sensory Bin
One of the easiest ways to add excitement and hands-on learning to your preschool week is with a themed sensory bin. So many of the activities in our Apples pack incorporate a sensory bin, so it’s best to knock out the preparation early on! Our apple theme sensory bin is always a hit—it’s simple to put together and offers tons of playful learning opportunities! Here’s how I like to set ours up!
FIRST, gather your materials. I like to use a plastic storage bin with a lid so I can cover and store the bin once it’s prepared. Choose your filler, like the dry oats we use in ours. Something about the oats really makes all the beautiful Fall colors in our apple theme POP! Once you’ve chosen your filler, fill your storage bin as much as you feel comfortable with (knowing each individual child can handle working with different amounts of materials).
NEXT, grab some extra apple themed items like plastic apples, baskets, apple colored (red, green and yellow) pompoms, etc. These items make the perfect backdrop for the printable items in our Apple pack! Scatter them throughout your sensory bin filler and watch the theme really come to life!
FINALLY, choose a space that you feel comfortable using the sensory bin with your child. I tuck ours away in our homeschool room with the rest of our Preschool manipulatives, and keep our sensory bin blanket nearby for when it’s time to get to work. The rule with our bins – everything stays on the blanket! This makes clean up SO much easier.
READY, SET, PLAY!!! When your sensory bin is not being used for the printable activities in our Apple Preschool theme, allow children to explore freely! Watch them scoop, pour, dig, and more! I love taking our bin our when I need a little extra quiet time for homeschooling an older child, or honestly if I just need an extra minute to sip my hot coffee!
Preschool Apple Theme Overview
This set of Apple themed Toddler and Preschool activities is sure to give your little learners TONS of fun practice! Children will have 15 center-style activities to choose from – 5 Math, 5 Literacy and 5 Fine Motor centers. In addition, I’ve included book recommendations for 5 apple picture books and links to their read aloud videos on YouTube!
To use these printables, you can follow the PRE-MADE lesson plans for a week full of fun! Each of the 5 pre-planned days your students will have 1 read aloud, 1 Math activity, 1 Literacy activity, and 1 Fine Motor activity to work on. This is a great pace for little learners! But if you’d like to spread the activities out or rearrange them according your own child’s needs, simply print our provided Build-Your-Own Plans page and make your own plans!
PS See how we use this theme in our Preschool scope and sequence by grabbing our FREE Preschool Curriculum Map below!
Apple Theme Math Activities
This pack of printables has 5 fun apple theme activities for practicing early Math skills. Children will practice number formation, number identification, counting, colors, and shapes. Our Preschool activities always include the use of small manipulatives for added fine motor skills practice!
One of my favorite activities is the one shown above – find and feed apple numbers! Let just tell you – kids LOVE a good “find and feed” activity! These kinds of activities take your typical identification practice and turn it into such a fun game.
To use this activity, children choose an apple tree number card from their Fall sensory bin. Then they take pom poms from the same bin (we use red, green and yellow to represent apples) and “feed” the correct number of apples to their basket!
Apple Theme Literacy Activities
In addition to the Math centers, this set includes 5 early Apple Preschool Literacy activities! Children will practice skills like letter identification, letter formation, beginning sounds, and handwriting practice with apple life cycle vocabulary words!
I love materials that can be used in a variety of ways, and that’s exactly what these letter cards are! These happy little apple cards are so helpful for a variety of activities. We start using them by identifying the letters, kind of like flash cards. Then we use a variety of manipulatives from our apple sensory bin to build the letters on the apples, or trace them with a dry erase marker. (Laminate them for extra durability or pop them in sheet protectors so you can wipe off the dry erase marker!)
If you want to extend the life of these cards, try using them to practice other skills! Again using them like flash cards, practice identifying the sound each letter makes. Or even practice putting them in alphabetical order! In the past my little one and I enjoyed clipping them onto a string in ABC order using clothespins to add an extra fine motor twist!
Apple Theme Fine Motor Activities
When working with little learners, strengthening fine motor skills is a must! Our 5 apple theme fine motor activities will have your children working hard and having TONS of fun! They will practice matching using clothespins, mold using play dough, trace using manipulatives, and so much more!
My favorite thing to include in all of our Preschool Curriculum themes is a set of themed play dough prompt cards to match that week’s theme. It’s always so much fun to see kiddos find new excitement in their good ‘ole play dough when paired with bright pictures to build!
Just a tip – laminate your play dough cards or pop them in sheet protectors to give them the glossy cover that keeps the play dough from sticking!
And… I lesson planned FOR YOU!
This set of activities (and all of the other 45+ sets in our FULL Preschool Curriculum) include a full week of print and go visual lesson plans! It shows you exactly which books and printables to use each day for a 5-day school week, making lesson planning an absolute breeze!
Want to build your own? Or maybe your kiddos are ready for some of the activities but not all of them? That’s great! Use the included Build Your Own lesson plans page! These thematic centers were designed with growing learners ages 2.5 to 5 years old in mind, so this lesson planning page allows you to choose which activities your child is ready for right now!
Ready to learn with your toddlers or Preschoolers ALL MONTH LONG?! You can save TONS when you grab this set of centers in our August Preschool Curriculum! The bundle includes over 4 engaging August themes, complete with a week of lesson plans for each! You’ll also get 25 NO PREP Back to School themed fine motor skills worksheets and crafts, and 38 NO PREP Math and Literacy worksheets for extended practice!
LET’S HANG OUT!
I hope this post helped you get a better look at our apple theme Preschool activities! Got questions? Let me know! I’d love to chat and get to know you better! You can find us below in some of our favorite places to hang out. Can’t wait to chat with you about your Preschooler’s learning journey!
SAVE THIS POST FOR LATER!
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