1-2-3 Come Do Some Apple Activities With Me

I've created so many apple activities over the years that it was time to up-date and revamp some of my favorite ideas and toss them into Diane's Dollar Deals in my TpT shop.  I'm featuring two today, plus a FREEBIE. 

First up is the Magic Math Apple. It's a quick, easy & fun way to practice recognizing some of those big numbers that kiddos often trip over when learning how to write and count numbers.

Seeing them in proper sequence helps them wrap their head around a variety of math patterns, and is especially helpful to visual learners.

By doing this as a whole group activity, you can quickly & easily assess students’ knowledge of numbers, colors, & spatial direction words, as well as their ability to listen & follow directions.

This activity also builds vocabulary. I purposely used words like left, right, top, bottom, diagonal etc. to reinforce spatial directions.  To assist kiddos with the new words, I've provided full-page posters that you can refer to.

Ordinal numbers are also practiced, as well as colors.  I feel even young children can gain number sense by doing this as a "monkey see-monkey do” activity.

On your large teacher copy, you color in the number 14 box brown. Show it to your kiddos & they copy you.

I've included a full-size teacher's template for this.  There are 2-on-a-page, as well as 4-on-a-page number grid options for students.

Completed projects make a nice bulletin board. “We’re taking a bite out of number sense.” “Apple-icious math work.” or whatever...  Click on the link to pop on over to my TpT shop to grab this super-fun Dollar Deal: Math Magic Mystery Picture.

Next up is Willie the Wormy Alphabet Apple game.   He was one of my kiddos' favorite apple centers.

So that I didn't have to reinvent the wheel each year, and my centers were easy-peasy to set up, I try and create independent center/station activites that I can use every year. 

Designing them to go along with a theme, keeps them relevant, interesting and fresh. 

Willie took me less than an hour to make, and was so worth the effort, as he's a super-fun way for kiddos to practice matching upper & lowercase letters.  

Finally,the Melted Crayon Apple craft is a personal favorite, and today's featured FREEBIE.  Even though this craftivity is quick, easy & fun, it definitely has the "Wow!" factor.

"Apples can be red, yellow and green. These are the prettiest apples I've ever seen." is the little poem that's in the middle of the apple. 

There are several pattern options in the packet (a large, full-page teacher pattern, plus 2-on- a page for students, with and without the poem.

Using a crayon sharpener & broken, peeled crayons, have students "shave" separate piles of red, yellow & green shavings.  

They pinch a bit and then sprinkle the 3 colors on top of their apple cut out. Both of these activities, provide super, fine-motor skill practice, that helps strengthen those finger muscles.

Cover with a sheet of wax paper, press with a warm iron for a few seconds, then gently peel off the paper.

My kiddos often squealed with delight at how awesome their apple turned out.

Each one is different & completed projects make a lovely fall bulletin board. 

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  I hope you can pop back tomorrow for a few more apple activities, then it's time to move on to scarecrows & pumpkins! 

I love all of the seasons, but I think fall is my favorite.  Wishing you a refreshing day.

 "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." -Ralph Waldo Emerson