An apple unit is so much fun at the beginning of the school year … especially when there are toddlers or preschoolers! Simply tasting different varieties of apples is an adventure. With two toddler grandchildren, Sophia at 20 months and Caleb at 17 months, I’ve been having lots of fun preparing new apple experiences.
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Introducing an Apple Unit to Toddlers and Preschoolers
Naturally, we’ve had lots of apple tasting in our apple unit already. If you’d like to see an idea of how to introduce fruit matching and tasting, check out my post and video from when Zoey (now 5½) was 18 months old.
We’re looking forward to one of our favorite hands-on apple activities … a trip to an apple orchard this fall! Caleb already had his first experience with an apple orchard visit last fall, but this year’s trip will be extra fun for him.
I’ll be publishing a post with lots of apple books later on, but here’s Caleb and Sophia’s favorite apple book so far … the Montessori-friendly board book Apple Farmer Annie. It has just the right amount of words for toddlers!
Montessori Apple Color Matching for Toddlers and Preschoolers
I had downloaded the free apple graphing printable from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds. This is a lovely Montessori-friendly printable with a variety of uses. With toddlers, I wanted to use it for apple color matching.
Materials used:
- Red, yellow, and green apples (such as Red Delicious or Gala, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith)
- Free apple graphing printable from Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds
- Laminator and laminating sheets if you want to laminate the cards. I’m experimenting with giving extra lessons on how to gently hold card materials to see if I can avoid laminating even with toddlers. I always used to laminate toddler materials even for home use, but I like to save time (and help the environment when I can). Of course, for school use I recommend laminating materials for toddlers and preschoolers.
- Craft foam sheets in red, yellow, and green
- Montessori Services Rug
Matching the Green Apple to the Green Craft Foam Sheet
My daughter, Christina (Caleb’s mom) demonstrated the activity for Caleb and Sophia. Then the toddlers each had a turn to match the apples to the colored craft foam sheets.
Note: Apple tasting is always a big part of these toddler activities! You can see the green apple with the bite out of it! Don’t worry if a toddler activity gets chaotic. It’s a process for toddlers to learn how to participate fully in group activities, even small group activities.
Matching the Green Apple Picture to the Green Craft Foam Sheet
Next, Christina showed how to match the pictures to the colored apples and craft foam sheets. Caleb and Sophia had a chance to work with that as well.
Adding the Apple Color Word Labels
This was easy for Zoey, but I had her demonstrate adding the color word labels.
Ideas of other extensions for preschoolers:
- Matching a number of apple varieties to the colored craft foam sheets, noting the different shades of colors
- Having a scavenger hunt for more objects the same colors as the craft foam sheets (see my post with color scavenger hunt for ideas)
- Adding the graphing part of the printable to graph children’s favorite colors of apples
- Adding the graphing part of the printable to graph the colors of a number of apple varieties
- Use Montessori color box 3 to find the best color match for different apple varieties
More Apple Resources
Free Apple Printables and Activities for a Montessori-Inspired Apple Unit
- Montessori-Inspired Apple Unit
- 30+ Apple Sensory Tubs
- Free Apple Printables and Montessori-Inspired Apple Activities
- 20+ Apple Phonics Activities
- Fall Sensory Bin with Practical Life and Math Activities
- Fun with Montessori Apple Coring, Slicing, Spreading, and Sharing
- Free Apple Printable for Ten Apples Up On Top Activities (Instant Download)
- Ten Apples Up On Top Sensory Bin & Table (Free Printables)
- Ten Apples Up On Top Activities with Spielgaben {Free Printables}
- Free Fall Playdough Math Pack (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Montessori-Inspired Playdough Math Activities for Fall {Free Printables}
- Free Seasons of an Apple Tree Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Tree Songs and Educational Videos {Learn about Trees, Apple Trees, and Seasons}
- Apple Unit Study Pinterest Board
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2019 Montessori Series – Fall Themes
This post is part of the 2019 Montessori Series! See all the fall-themed activities below:
- Delightful Montessori Lesson Plans for More Fall Fun | The Natural Homeschool
- Montessori Apple Fraction Activities for Multiple Ages | Living Montessori Now
- Weather Activity Trays for Kindergarten and First Graders | The Pinay Homeschooler
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