1-2-3 Come Make Some Apple Art With Me!

I've had several requests for some quick and easy art activties, that teachers can do in a short amount of time, or set up as centers.  Here are some of my all-time favorites.

A melted crayon apple looks awesome and takes only a few minutes to make.  Students cut out their apple and glue a leaf and stem to it. Teacher reads the poem and reviews rhyming. "Apples can be yellow, red or green.  These are the prettiest apples you've ever seen!"

As a terrific fine motor skill, children peel a red, yellow and green broken crayon. 

When it is their turn, children bring their apple and crayons to the adult-run center, where they "shave" their crayons in a crayon sharpener, to make piles of shavings.  Students pinch some and sprinkle in a few places on their apple, being careful not to cover the poem. 

The teacher or room helper, lays a piece of wax paper on top, and carefully presses down with an iron on its lowest setting.  After a few seconds (s)he gently peels back the paper to reveal a multi-colored apple tree.  My Y5's often squealed with delight at how cool their apple looked.  Click on the link to view/download the Crayon Melt Apple activity.

Another easy apple "craftivity" that helps strengthen finger muscles, is a rip and tear apple.  Even a young child can work independently at this center, as they tear red, yellow, green, and brown strips of paper into color piles, and then glue them to their apple cut out. 

Any of these projects make an outstanding apple bulletin board, or if you do several, arrange them all on a wall, with the caption: Apple-icious Work! Click on the link to view/download the Rip & Tear Apple pattern.

As you can see in the photographs, I have my kiddo's use yellow, green and red, to reinforce the fact that apples can be all of those colors. Another way to bring this idea home, is to have children color the apple squares template.  I designed the "graph" paper with large squares for little ones, as well as smaller squares for older children. 

Use this "craftivity" to reinforce an ABC pattern as well. Click on the link to view/download The Color-Me Apple activity.

Every now and then, I liked to throw in a few crafts that I knew parents would absolutely love.  

I call these "Keepsake Crafts."  Tracing a child's arm, on brown construction paper, with their fingers spread to make "branches" results in the perfect apple tree trunk.

Children dip their index finger in red paint, or red glitter glue and dab on 10 fingerprint apples.  Include a child's oval photo in the "hollow" of the tree, for that finishing touch. 

This apple craft has a poem, so you can review that genre, along with rhyming words.  "Cute little apples hanging from my tree.  I made them with my fingerprints; they're a special part of me. The 10th one will be the last; listen now and I'll count them fast: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10."

Having children count the 10 apples, reinforces that math standard as well. Click on the link to view/down load The Keepsake Apple Tree Pattern.

Finally, allowing children to paint, is a bit messy, but also provides wonderful fine motor skill practice, and my Y5's absolutely loved it. Have children add seeds to the back of their apple, by pressing their index finger onto a brown stamp pad and then making a star design in the center. 

To make this a noisemaker-shaker, add rice or birdseed before you staple their creation. These also look sweet dangling from the ceiling.  Click on the link to view/download the Painted Apple Bowl activity.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  For more apple "craftivities" scroll down for the next blog article, featuring 6 more FREEBIES.  It's time for me to clean up my crafty messes and seek some sunshine before the summer's gone.  I'm wishing you an apple-icious afternoon.   

"The art of teaching, is the art of assisting discovery." -Mark Van Doren

1-2-3 Come Make The Life Cycle Of An Apple With Me!

There are 3 Life Cycle of an Apple craftivities in this packet.  Children can choose to glue the apple's life cycle on an apple, apple tree, or apple pie.

There is a front and back to the apple and apple tree projects. The apple has a sweet poem that I revamped, on the back.  The apple seeds are a child's finger print that was pressed onto a brown stamp pad.

On the apple life cycle TREE, students cut and glue apples for however many years old they are.

The life cycle of an apple (pie plate), was made by covering a paper plate with aluminum foil.  Because you are cutting a slice of apple pie to dangle, you have an opportunity to cover fractions as well.

There are also 2 different apple life cycle templates to choose from.  One apple life cycle is completed by using real photographs of the various stages and gluing them to the template. 

(See tree & pie photo.) The other apple life cycle, is made by coloring, cutting and gluing the pictures of each phase. (See apple photo.)

Completed projects look wonderful dangling from the ceiling.  The apple pie life cycle makes a sweet bulletin board.  I spray the pie slice with apple spice fragrance for that finishing touch.

Click on the link to view/download the Life Cycle Of An Apple Activities.

This packet will be FREE for an entire year (!) after which time, it will be up-date and rolled into my 33-page Life Cycle of an Apple Activities packet in my TpT shop.

Thanks for visiting.  Feel free to PIN away.  To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black; now click on the "Pin it" button located on the menu. 

If you'd like to see all of the other excellent-educational items that I post, click on the heart to the right of my blog.  I have an entire board for just apple activities, as well as another one for delicious apple recipes.

"Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities.  Dreaming, after all, is a form of plannning." -Gloria Steinem

1-2-3 Come Do Some Apple "Craftivities" With Me

Studying apples was one of my very favorite units.  Apples can be used across the board for every subject.  I especially enjoy designing hands-on apple lessons that help students practice their fine motor + listening and following direction skills.  Because my room was on the far end of the school, one of the corridors provided a hallway to myself!  I LOVED decorating it to the hilt, with my students' "mess-terpieces"; we always received tons of compliments too.

To introduce, and encourage rhyming, I like to make up poems and songs to familiar tunes.  I used the tune of 3 Blind Mice for the Apples Apples Apples dangler.  It reinforces the concept of small-medium and large, as well as the fact that apples can be red, yellow or green.  Older students can also label the parts of an apple.

To make this even more special, have students glue their photo to the leaf, and press their pinkie finger on a brown stamp pad, to make the 5 seeds in the center of their apple.  Making a brown construction paper loop for a stem, adds pizzazz, and makes it easy to hang these from the ceiling. Click on the link to veiw/download the Apples Song Dangler.

Small squares of red, yellow and green tissue paper, collaged on a card stock apple, also provides great fine motor skill practice.  The results are truly amazing. For a high gloss finish, gently paint the top of the apple, with watered-down Elmer's white glue, or Modge Podge.  For that extra bit of pizzazz, add a scrap of calico fabric and a button. Click on the link to view/download the Tissue Paper Apple Activity.

If you've cut apples using an Ellison die-cut machine, save the outside "frame."  For an "instant" apple, put the "frame" on top of the tissue paper collage.  If you want these to have a "stained glass" look, collage the tissue squares on a sheet of wax paper, trim and hang in the window.

Another quick & easy craftivity your students can do, to reinforce the concept of 3D, as well as the fact that apples come in 3 colors, is to have them make an apple pencil topper. 

I call these apple twirlers, because you can rub the pencil between the palms of your hands and make the apple twirl. 

To make one, run off the apple template on red, green and yellow construction paper.  Students trim their apples, fold them in half and then glue each half together til they have a 3 dimensional apple, whose "faces" are red, green and yellow.   This is a teachable "fraction" moment, to cover the terms "whole" and "half."  While the glue is still wet, students slide their apple onto the top of their pencil.   Click on the link to view/download the Pencil Apple Twirler.  

A spin off of this activity, is a tri-colored apple paper chain.  Instead of putting their apple on top of a pencil, students add a seed center to each face, punch a hole at the base, make a yarn loop and attach yellow, red and green paper chain links.  Review an ABC-ABC pattern with your students, as well as odd and even numbers. 

They can make their chains as long as they have time for. Older students can write an apple fact on each one of the strip before they link them up.  Click on the bolded link above to view/download this craftivity.

Finally, to add a bit of pizzazz to your apple cut-outs, and help students strengthen their finger muscles, use a hand held crinkler, to give papers the look of corregated cardboard.

You can buy these rollers at any hobby store.  They retail for around $18, but watch for weekly 40%-50% off coupons and get one then. 

Students simply insert their paper into the roller and crank away.  My Y5's LOVED doing this, and nick named the machine "Mr. Cruncher Muncher." Click on the link for the pattern.

Thanks for visiting today; feel free to PIN away!  If you'd like to check out all of the awesome-educational items that I spend way too much time pinning, click on the heart to your right.   I try and blog every day.  Hope you can pop by tomorrow for the newest FREEBIE!

"When you change the way you see things, the things you see change." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Spy Some Apple Fractions With Me

Whenever I do a theme, I try to incorporate a variety of standards, that encompass all of my subjects.  Because fractions are sometimes difficult for younger kiddo's to understand, it's very important to SHOW these math concepts, and then to reinforce them, by having students follow up with several hands-on activities.  If you teach first grade, these fraction lessons will help with the Common Core State Standard: 1.G.3

There's nothing like food to grab a child's attention, so I suggest showing children a variety of apples, explaining that they are not only red, which many of them think, but yellow and green as well.

Display an uncut apple and explain that it is a WHOLE apple, then cut the apple down the middle and explain that now the apple is cut in half, and that 2 halves make a whole.  Show this by putting the two pieces back together. 

Ask children if any one knows how many pieces you'll have, if you cut the apple in quarters, then show them, by cutting the apple in half and then in half again.  Count the 4 pieces; review that one of the 4 pieces of an apple is called a quarter or 1 fourth.  Rubberband the 4 pieces together, to show that 4 pieces equal a whole apple.  Ask your students to choose a partner and explain what they have just learned to each other. 

While they are doing that, cut up the apples so that everyone can have a little bite of each kind.  Tell them to remember which colored apple was their favorite, so you can graph the results.  If you'd like a copy of this apple graph as well as all sorts of other apple graphing templates, (22 different apple graphs) click on the link.

Later, to reinforce and practice fractions, students put together an apple flip-up booklet.  To make one, run off the printable on red, yellow and green construction paper. 

Children choose a color and fold it in half horizontally.  This is another opportunity to review the word half with them, as well as what horizontal means.  Students cut the top "doors" so that they will "flip up."  Remind students to open their paper, so they are less likely to cut the bottom one at the same time they are slitting the top.

Children write their name on the front of their apple flip up booklet and glue apple pictures under the "doors" to match the fraction words on the top.  When everyone has completed their "flip up" review as a whole group. 

Included in this packet, is also a trace and write apple fraction booklet, so that the math vocabulary is reinforced in yet another way.  This is a great activity for your Daily 5 Word Work. There are matching apple fraction pocket or word wall word cards as well.  Click on the link to view/download the Apple Fraction Packet. 

If you feel students need more practice, or you'd like a quick review, follow up the next day by having them do the apple pie flip up or the apple pie trace and write booklet.  Click on the link to view/download the Apple Pie Fraction Packet.

At the end of the day, I review things that we've learned, using anchor charts.  After we go over the concepts, I let children help decide where we should hang the latest posters.  Click on the link to view/down load the Fraction Anchor Chart Posters.

Because my Y5's especially enjoyed "craftivities" (great for fine motor skill practice) I often set up a more "artsy" center, for students who completed their table top lesson. 

These independent centers were highly motivating for students to get down to business and complete their work, so they could make "something special."  To avoid hurt feelings, children who ran out of time, got to collect the "pieces" and materials for the project to take home.

The Fraction Apple Flip craftivity is perfect for these independent centers. Click on the link to view/download it. 

To make one, simply run off the templates on red, lime green and yellow construction paper.  Students cut and collate their apple so that the 1/4 is on the top, followed by the half and then the whole apple.  Staple the corner and review.  I've included a stem and leaf template to make the fraction sections look like an apple.  Pre-cut these for students to glue to the top-back of their apple.

Finally, games are a terrific way to practice life skills, as well as reinforce standards, in an interesting and fun way.  This "Spin to Win" game, is called Apple Fraction Action. 

Students can play indepently, or in a group of 2 or 3. Whatever apple they land on, they mark an x under the matching fraction apple on their graph.  When the timer rings, students total up their columns and circle which apple they have spun the most. 

I've included a whole class graph as well, so you can review, by charting everyone's answers. Click on the link to view/download the Apple Fraction Action game.

Thanks for visiting today!  As always, feel free to PIN away.  To ensure that "pinners"  return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black, now click on the "Pin it" button located on the menu.  If you'd like to see all of the really creative and educational things I spend way too much time pinning, click on the heart to your right.

I blog and design every day; hope you can pop back tomorrow for the newest freebie(s).

"Treat a [student] as he is, and he will remain as he is.  Treat him as he can and should be, and he will become, as he can and should be." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe