Alphabet learning has been taking place in our house for some time. I have one little one who is working on letter identification and another one who is working on spelling his name and letter sounds. We’ve been sharing lots of those alphabet activities on the blog!
Today starts the first week of our Playful Preschool series. We’ve teamed up with some great bloggers to share themed preschool ideas to help you with your little ones. Each Wednesday you will find literacy, math, science, social studies, cooking, technology, music and more ideas based on a theme. This week we are sharing all about apples!
We created an alphabet learning activity involving that favorite Autumn fruit.
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Alphabet Learning: Stamping with Apples
Why We Chose This Alphabet Activity
We’ve been reading lots of books about apples (Apple Farmer Annie and Apples, Apples, Apples were two of our favorites) and even went apple picking this weekend. To build off of these experiences I wanted to use the apples in our alphabet learning. Building connections is so important to development and growth.
For even more apple books, check out our Apple Books for Preschooler big book list.
After slicing some apples for a snack, we saved the apple cores for this activity.
Preparing the Alphabet Activity
Materials needed: apple core, red paint (we used washable), paint tray, green and brown marker, and white copy paper or construction paper
1. On a piece of paper draw a basic tree.
2. Write a letter that your child needs to practice recognizing on the trunk.
3. On the tree top, write that same letter randomly 3-5 times. Add other letters to fill in the tree top.
4. Fill a small container with red paint. Set out the apple core which will be the stamp.
Alphabet Activity in Action
Now it’s time to play! Have the child identify the letter on the trunk of the tree. Next, they should use their apple core stamp dipped in paint and stamp the same letter on the tree top to create an “apple”. Have the child repeat the stamping until all the correct letters are stamped.
We’ve been working on identifying letters in my son’s name in the correct order so we made an apple orchard. I taped two pieces of paper together and drew a tree for each letter of his name. If this is too much to do in one sitting, you could do individual sheets/trees over several sessions and then tape them together in the correct order.
You can also watch Amanda from The Educators’ Spin On It and I talk about this and other activities below!
Here are more playful preschool ideas about apples.
Plan your learning week with Preschool Apple Theme Activities from the Playful Preschool Education Team:
SOCIAL STUDIES
From Orchard to Table. Watch and Make at The Educators’ Spin On It
SCIENCE
Examining Apple Parts, How Does It Grow, Sink/Float at Little Bins For Little Hands
MUSIC & MOVEMENT
Apple Hop at Learning 2 Walk
MATH
Counting Apples with Preschoolers: Real-Life Math at Life Over C’s
Apple Math Fun in Preschool – Tasting and Graphing Apples at Fun-A-Day
LITERACY
Alphabet Activity: Apple Tree Letter Matching at Mom Inspired Life
Alphabet Learning: Apple Stamping at Growing Book by Book
Apple-Bet Match : Matching Lowercase with Upper Case Letters at Tiny Tots Adventures
WRITING
Scented Playdough Prewriting Activity at The Preschool Toolbox
SENSORY
Applesauce Dough for Sensory Play at Still Playing School
COOKING
How to Make Homemade Apple Pie – Cooking with Preschoolers at Powerful Mothering
SCIENCE
Apple Oxidation Experiment at Raising Lifelong Learners
CRAFT
Paper Plate Apple Craft at The Kennedy Adventures
Join us next week when we explore a new theme: Family/Heritage
This post has been shared on 1+1+1=1 Tot School Gathering Place.
erin says
Very clever! Thanks for linking up to Good Tips Tuesday. You are featured this week! 🙂 http://abirdandabean.com/2014/09/good-tips-tuesday-17.html
Samantha @ Stir the Wonder says
Love how you combined the apple theme with art and alphabet learning! Thanks for linking up at the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop! We hope you come by again next week!
Carrie says
What a fun twist on apple stamping! I love it! Thanks for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!
Beth says
This is SUCH a fun, clever twist on both stamping & stamping with apples!! Love it!!
I featured this on TGIF today – http://www.123homeschool4me.com/2014/09/15-fall-activities-for-kids.html
Thanks for linking up & have a GREAT weekend,
Beth =)
Emma T says
Love this. So many good ideas – could be a good way to help my son with letters
Gude @HodgePodgeCraft says
What a fun activity! Thanks for sharing at #Pintorials
Selena @ Look! We're Learning! says
Using the apple core is so smart! It’s far less wasteful that way. 🙂
Emma @ P is for Preschooler says
I love this idea for letter learning! What a wonderful series this is going to be!
Cassie @ 3Dinosaurs.com says
I love this stamping idea. I shared it it the other day!
Jill says
What a fun hands-on learning activity for the fall Jodie!
The Preschool Toolbox says
Jodie – I love this stamping activity! Such a fun way to include fine motor and letters:) The apple for stamping is a great idea. Nice job!
Colleen says
Love this! My little ones will adore stamping with an apple core — thanks for the great idea.
Mary Catherine says
What a great way to combine literacy and art – kiddos love stamping with apples in my preschool class. We’re going to have to try this out soon. And, as always, I love the books you share to go along with this activity 🙂
Jodie Rodriguez says
Thank you Mary Catherine! There are so many great apple books. These are just two of our favorites!
Natasha says
This is a great activity. A great way to focus on the ones that they don’t know as well.
Kim Vij @ The Educators' Spin On It says
Jodie this is such a fun way to isolate letters with kids! Love that they get to get a little messy with paint and still work on letter recognition at the same time. Thanks for sharing.
Jodie Rodriguez says
We are all about mess at our house. It’s such a fun way to learn!
Danielle @ Mom Inspired Life says
I love this activity and know my son would too! I really like the idea of making an orchard and working on the letters in his name.
Lysha says
Love this! This post made me actually miss teaching. Will pin for all my teacher friends!
Amanda says
This is fabulous – I love that you used an apple core to stamp. Will try this with my sons soon!