September means the school year is finally in full swing and it’s time to start learning more than just routines and expectations. One of the first themes of the year in my kindergarten classroom is…Apples! Here are some of my favorite ways that you can tie simple math and literacy skills to this theme.
Apples Sensory Bin
Sensory bins are always fun learning activities, and this one is one of my all time favorites. Students get to make apple pies by following the recipe cards. This makes great counting practice and numbers 0-5 review. I just throw in some oats, a scoop, mini pie tins, some cut up brown felt, and apples. I use the Attribute Apples from Learning Resources, but you could also use red and green pom poms as the apples.
The recipe cards are included in my “Kindergarten Apple Activities” resource along with tons of other printables!
Class Apple Graphing
Another way to practice math skills is with a fun graphing activity. There are so many different ways to eat apples, from apple pie to caramel apples. Students get to vote for their favorite way to eat apples and we create a class graph. We count how many people chose each one and compare which ones had more and less. I also have students create their own individual graph as well. You can get this entire graphing activity below:
Apples Writing Center
The writing center is an area in my classroom that is set up all year long and I simply change out the themes every few weeks. Of course, it makes sense to make this all about apples as well!
When students go to the writing center, they can choose from tons of different literacy activities, from working on beginning sounds, labeling, writing stories, etc.
Color By Code Activities
Color By Code activities are always a huge hit with my students. They are great for reviewing skills we have worked on, such as letters and numbers. I use them all the time as early finisher activities, morning work, and even in my writing center that students can visit during free play time.
Apple Read Alouds
There are so many great books for littles that are all about apples, both fiction and nonfiction. Some of these books are great for talking about the life cycle of apples and how they grow. Some talk about making applesauce and Johnny Appleseed. Some just make cute fiction stories. And some even dive into social emotional learning skills. You can checkout my entire list of September read alouds, that includes tons of apple books.
Learning about apples is also a great time to focus on science skills too, such as life cycles and parts of an apple. I have some anchor charts and activities to go along with this in my “Kindergarten Apple Activities” resource as well.
I hope you and your students have so much fun learning about apples!
