Apple Lesson Plan for Preschool and Kindergarten

Apples are abundant during the fall season and an unit on apples provides an opportunity for preschool, kindergarten, and homeschool teachers to develop a lesson that expands across the curriculum.

Have an apple variety "tasting." Slice up several varieties of apples in different colors, red delicious, fuji, golden delicious, and granny smith are all easy varieties to find in any grocery store and easy for students to identify by color: red, pink, yellow, and green. Have students taste each apple and have them answer the following questions: Which is the crunchiest? Which is the sweetest? Which is your favorite? Which is the tartest? Then make a graph using the student's answers for one or two of the questions. (Language and Math)

Teach your students the names and functions of the parts of an apple: stem, skin, seeds, leaves etc... As an art project to reinforce the vocabulary, give each student two paper plates and let them color the outside of each plate the color of their favorite apple. Give them a few apple seeds to glue to the center of the insides of the plates. Staple the two plates around the edges, leaving an opening at the top so students can "peek" at the seeds inside. Glue on construction paper stems and leaves to complete. (Language, Science, and Art)

Using construction paper, cut out apple shapes in different colors and sizes. Use the apples for the following math projects: Create patterns using the different colors of apples, arrange apples from smallest to largest, and sort the apples into piles by size or color. (Math)

Create a four page book showing the four seasons of an apple tree. Each student will need a photocopy of a picture of a tree with no leaves. For the Winter page, students will simply color in the trunk. For the Spring page, they can draw light green leaves and glue on small pieces of light pink tissue paper or construction paper. For the Summer page, students will add dark green leaves and light green apples. For the Fall page have student color a mixture of green, orange, and yellow leaves onto the tree then provide red apple stickers to attach to their tree. (Science and Language.)

Hide a few apples in the room and play "Apple Hide and Seek." Give your students a series of clues about where each apple is hidden until they guess where it is. (Language and Critical Thinking)

Read a story about Johnny Appleseed to your students. There are also many other books to read to your students about apples, including Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington and Autumn is for Apples by Michelle Knudson. (Literature)

Apple snacks to provide during the apple unit include: Apple slices with peanut butter or vanilla yogurt for dipping, applesauce, apple bread, apple muffins, and apple pie. (Nutrition)