Apples: Apple Prints

What would an apple unit be without an apple print craft? When I ran across two totes in a friend's bag of old craft supplies (thanks, Michelle!), I knew they'd make perfect bags to take apple picking this weekend.

I'm sure you'll forgive me for doing this craft while the two-year-old napped. Some things - like acrylic paint - are best left out of toddler's hands.

E decided on the design for her bag, which provided an excellent lesson in patterns. 

After bedtime tonight, I pulled out my trusty paint pens and add the stems and leaves. Aren't they cute? They're going to look even cuter filled with ripe, juicy apples! We just booked our hotel and I can't wait to drive to the mountains to go apple picking this weekend!

Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta

So when is someone going to invent Netflix for books? I can't get my hands on this one, but the few pages I can preview on Amazon look fantastic. Can anyone recommend? Full page colorful illustrations show tiny elves working with whole and sliced apples. Under each picture are factoids about not only apples and fractions but other types of fruit and even bees. The pictures alone make this book worth a second look, but I also think it would be a great way to introduce fractions... and then do an apple fraction activity on your own! Yum.

I'm linking up to:
-ABC & 123's Show & Tell

Apples: Apple Tasting!

For our after-school snack today, I hosted an apple tasting for my two favorite little ladies.

They tried five varieties of apples: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Gala, Braeburn, and Pink Lady.

The judges carefully tested each apple on appearance, texture, and overall tastiness. 

After much deliberation, Pink Lady was declared the favorite, with Golden Delicious finishing a close second! What's your favorite variety?

Up, Up, Up! It's Apple-picking Time by Jody Fickes Shapiro

This simple story of a family enjoying the sweet delights of apple-picking time hearkens back to my own childhood in Michigan. I have dear memories of visiting orchards in the fall to pick crisp, juicy apples. Shapiro's book captures perfectly the smells and sights of an autumn apple orchard, and rejoices in the time a family can spend there together. The language is simple enough to engage a toddler but is also lyrical and beautifully descriptive. How can you resist phrases like, "fresh-baked apple dumplings, floating like islands in a sea of milk?"

I'm linking up to:
- Feed Me Books Friday @ Little Sprout Books

A is for Apple

Of course it is! Here's an adorable and simple craft I found on Totally Tots.  All you need is a few sheets of construction paper (or craft foam) and glue.

 Let your little one practice her fine motor skills while you discuss the letter "A".

A finished craft in about five minutes - the perfect amount of time for my active toddler!

Little Apple Goat by Caroline Jayne Church

I'll admit it... It's the cover that drew me in. How adorable is that goat? And that apple? So pickable! The story is almost as cute. Little Apple Goat lives down on the farm and loves eating apples (and pears and cherries). When she's done with the fruit she spits the seeds and pits over the hedge (Plippety Plip!). One day a strong storm blows over all the apple trees, making all the farm animals sad to lose their orchard. But come next autumn, a whole new orchard grew up over the hedge. Who could have planted it?

Like I said, it's a cute story, and my only complaint is that it actually takes years for a fruit tree to start bearing fruit. Hardly an issue with toddlers and preschoolers who can't yet understand the passage of time.

Apples: Apple Pie Playdough

We haven't made play dough in awhile, so when I saw this recipe for apple pie play dough I figured it be a great start to our Apple Week.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup of salt
• 2 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 1 small container cream of tartar
• cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice
• red food coloring 

Add all the ingredients to a large saucepan. I suppose you could measure out the spices, but I let the girls decide how much.

Stir constantly over medium-low heat until it firms up into non-sticky dough. (Tip: don't do this after an "Abs & More" class at the Y. It's a workout in itself!)

 Let your dough cool and then enjoy! I thought it smelled just like an apple pie. E said it smelled "sorta" good.

Both girls thought it was a lot of fun!

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

Ideal for 2 and 3 year olds, this beautifully illustrated book explains how to "grow an apple pie." Two young sisters describe their apple tree through the seasons. We watch as it changes from a bare tree in winter, to beautiful blossoms in spring, small green apples in summer, and then full ripe apples in autumn... apples just perfect for an apple pie! Also in the tree are two robins who hatch their eggs, raise their chicks, and then teach them to fly. The short sentences and vibrant illustrations will hold the attention of young children, while introducing them to the seasons and lifecycle of an apple.


I'm linking up to:
- ABC & 123's Show & Tell

Start of School: Lunch Notes

Today will mark completion of the first week of school! E has adjusted amazingly well to kindergarten and even insisted on being dropped off at the curb this morning. *sniff, sniff* A also handled drop off much better this morning. Now it's just up to me to deal with my own separation anxiety!

Toward this end, I've made a point to include little notes in the girls' lunches. A can't read yet, of course, so I simply printed off a recent picture of us with a universally understood message: ♥. (Look! I'm in the picture! How have you done with the challenge?)

For E's lunch, I found these adorable notes over at Cap Creations. She has three sheets with encouraging messages, jokes, and Bible verses. I printed them off on cardstock, cut them up, and stuck the stack in my kitchen drawer. Every morning, I simply grab one and toss it in!

I feel an eensy bit better knowing that my girls have a token of my love in the middle of their day. (Oh, dear. I've become one of those moms, haven't I? :)

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

Another Henkes? What can I say. The man's a kids lit genius. In this story, beloved character Lilly adores her teacher. She sings his praises and wants to be a teacher like him when she grows up. But when Lilly brings her new purple plastic purse to school and interrupts the class to show it off, her teacher takes it away for the day. Lilly is so angry, she writes a mean note for her teacher to find. What she doesn't know is that her teacher left her a note as well...

This is an excellent story to teach remorse, repentance, and forgiveness to young school-aged children. Your kids are sure to empathize with passionate Lilly and feel her pain when she regrets her rash choices. This empathy keeps the story from becoming preachy, and the happy ending teaches a lesson of redemption that I love.

I'm linking up to:
- Feed Me Books Friday @ Little Sprout Books