A is for Apples

• Make apple pom-pom necklaces
  1. PREP: (need red pom-poms, green felt, brown pony beads)
     • Cut out several small green leaves from felt.
     • Hot glue the leaf to the pom-pom.
     • Hot glue the brown pony bead on top of the leaf.
  2. Have your preschooler string apple pom-pom beads onto a length of cording.
  3. Alternate with green pony beads to work on patterns.

• Examine apples
  1. Have several different kinds & colors of apples for the kids to observe.
  2. Ask them what they see. We noticed the smooth skin, spots on the skin, the stem, the different colors, the shape…
  3. Cut the apples into slices. I sliced them horizontally so we could see the star inside.
  4. Let the kids taste each different apple.
  5. Let them munch while you read apple books.

• Read “Ned's New Home” by Kevin Tseng … I grabbed this one at the library because of the big apple on the front. It is such a cute book. We may use it again for our Fruit Day. Ned (the worm)’s apple house has started to rot, so he goes through several other fruits trying to find a suitable new home. Available here.

• Read “Apples for Everyone” by Jill Esbaum … I’m loving this series of books by National Geographic Kids. The text is simple, very informative and the photos are wonderful. The book is only 16 pages, so a quick read for kids. Available here.

• Read “The Apple Pie Tree” by Zoe Hall … we have to read this book every fall. It is a cute story with a simple explanation of the life cycle of an apple, ending with a delicious apple pie. Available here.

• Do ‘A’ journal page
  1. Write ‘Aa” on the next page.
  2. Write “APPLES”. I show my 4-year-old the word “APPLE” on the cover of one of our books and she copies the letters into her journal.
  3. Practice writing big A’s and little a’s.
  4. Put apple stickers all over the page. We used scented apple stickers, but any would do

• ABC Apple Post-It Game … this one is always fun. A great way to get up and move around. I find apple post-its at Office Depot or Office Max or on Amazon here. 
  1. PREP:
     • Write A-Z on apple post-it notes. My preschooler loves writing her letters, so she helped me write another set of lower-case a-z on the green apple post-its.
     • Make a large apple tree. Ideas:
       1. Draw one with chalk on a fence.
       2. Paint one on a big cardboard box
       3. Cut out a large tree from brown & green butcher paper and tape to the wall.
       4. Draw a large apple tree on a window, mirror or glass door with dry erase crayons.
     • “Hang” all of the ABC apples in the apple tree (stick them on)
     • Write A-Z outside of the tree.
  2. TO PLAY:
     • Have your preschooler pick an ABC apple from the tree.
     • Have her match it to the ABC outside of the tree.
     • We did this game twice with upper and lower-case apples.
     • Give them plenty of help, so it is fun and not frustrating!

• Read “Ten Apples Up On Top!” by Dr. Seuss … spread out a blanket outside and fun apple book. Book available here.

• 10 Apple Bean Bags Up On Top! … this little game had my kids belly-laughing. It’s worth the prep work
  1. PREP: Make several apple bean bags. Detailed instructions with PHOTOS here.
     • Cut out 2 red felt circles
     • Cut out 1 brown felt stem
     • Cut out 1 green felt leaf
     • Sandwich the stem & leaf between the red circles.
     • Sew around the apple, leaving a 2-inch gap.
     • Fill with rice or beans.
     • Finish sewing around the apple.
     • TIP: This year, I didn’t feel like sewing, so I hot glued the apples together It worked.
  2. TO PLAY:
     • Read “10 Apples Up On Top” again.
     • When the characters put another apple “up on top”, have the kids try balancing an apple on their head.
     • Add 2, then 3, then 4!
     • Have them try to stand up or walk with the apples up on top.

• 10 Apple Stickers Up On Top!
  1. Print a small picture of your preschooler.
  2. Glue it to the bottom of a half sheet of paper.
  3. Have your preschooler stack 10 apple stickers up on top of their head!
  4. Count the apples 1-10 (or 14 in our case)

• Make Apple Cookies for our Snack … would you be surprised that these got rave reviews from all five of my kids and my husband? There weren’t supposed to be quite so many mini M&Ms, but my 4-year-old was helping, so that’s what happens!
  1. Slice apples horizontally.
  2. Immediately soak in a bowl of cold water and lemon juice (a few tablespoons for a medium bowl). This keeps the apples from browning. Let them soak for 10-15 minutes.
  3. Take the apple slices out of the lemon water and dry them with a towel.
  4. Spread peanut butter.
  5. Sprinkle toppings … mini M&Ms, chocolate chips, coconut, raisins, chopped nuts.

A is for Animals

• Sing SILLY “Old Macdonald Had a Farm” … a silly spin on the traditional song.
  1. Sing a few verses of the regular “Old Macdonald” song.
  2. Open “My Little Animal Book” and let the kids choose any animal for Old Macdonald’s farm. Repeat several times. My kids thought this was hilarious Book available here.
     • You might growl for a lion
     • Make fins for a fish
     • Hop for a kangaroo
     • Chomp for an alligator

• Read “Fifteen Animals!” by Sandra Boynton … this is a fun, quick and catchy animal book. Available here.

• Read “Animal Opposites” by Petr Horacek … I LOVE this new book. It is creative and simple and colorful. Most of the pages have a fold-out or pop-up and every page illustrates an opposite. Available here.
  1. Point out the letters on the cover. Name the letters.
  2. If you’re working on colors, ask the kids to name or point to certain colors.
  3. Can the kids name the animals on the cover?
  4. ACT OUT the opposite pages as you read! My kids were giggling and having so much fun with this. It’s especially fun when Mom gets up to do it with them
     • S-L-O-W snail … FAST cheetah
     • STILL sloth … bOuNcY kangaroo
     • quiet rabbit … LOUD LION!

• Do ‘A’ journal page … we use a primary composition book.
  1. Write ‘Aa’ on a new page. Practice a few more AAA’s and aaa’s.
  2. I show my 4-year-old the word “ANIMAL” on the cover of one of our books and she copies the letters onto her journal page.
  3. Add animal stickers (or draw pictures).

• Animal Hunt & Write … this was probably my 4-year-old’s favorite activity. We played it four times, taking turns hiding and finding.
  1. I used the “baby animal match” game available for FREE from 1+1+1=1. Just download and print here.
  2. Leave the adult animal attached to the animal name.
  3. Cut apart the animal babies and have your preschooler glue them to a piece of paper. Clip the paper onto a clipboard.
  4. Hide the adult animal & animal names together around the house. We hid the animals all over our backyard!
  5. Have your preschooler find each animal and copy the animal name next to the matching animal on their paper.
  6. The thrill of the hunt and the fun of copying the letters made this a very fun activity … over and over

• Animal photo matching game … this was a great game matching our toy animals to real-life photos.
• Use “My Big Animal Book” and “My Little Animal Book”. Available here and here. These books contain wonderful real-life animal photos.
• TIP: You could also print out several real-life photos or save them from magazines.
• Match several TOOB-type animals to the real-life photos in the book.

  Wild Animals

  Ocean Animals

  Pets

  Farm Animals

• Play with animals in model magic
1. We used green and brown model magic. I got ours at Michaels. Available here in a variety of colors.
2. Make prints with the animals.
3. Pretend the animals are climbing green model magic trees or sleeping in brown model magic caves.
4. Or squish as many animals as you can into one big lump.
5. We ended up getting the googly eyes out and making snakes and monsters with 100 eyeballs

• Animal Graphing Game
1. Print the “Baby Animal Graphing” game and dice from the Baby Animals Printable Pack from 1+1+1=1.
2. Cut out the dice, fold and glue together.
3. Roll the animal dice and mark the graph.
4. My 4-year-old wants to write her numbers, so she practiced those. You could also mark with an ‘X’ or color in the box.

• Animals Cracker Snack
1. Open a box of animal crackers.
2. Name the animals, make the animal sounds or act them out.
3. Sort the animals into piles.
4. Enjoy an animal cracker snack!