Over the past few weeks, our children have shown great interest in finding apples on the playground, inspiring us to explore the wonderful world of apples! Throughout the week, we connected their curiosity with stories, songs, hands-on activities, and our Bible lesson about Adam and Eve.
During circle time, we enjoyed reading Apple Picking Day!, Peppa Goes Apple Picking, and One Little, Two Little, Three Little Apples. We also sang “Way Up High in the Apple Tree” by The Kiboomers. To deepen our exploration, the teacher introduced a real apple and invited the children to pass it around, look at it up close, and observe its color, shape, and texture. We also explored a felt apple and learned new words such as stem, peel, fruit, core, and seeds.
At our sensory table, the children went on an apple hunt, using magnetic sticks to find apples hidden beneath pretend grass and hay. With the teachers’ assistance, they counted their discoveries from one to three. We also introduced tweezers and grabbers, encouraging the children to pick up colorful pom-poms and place them onto an apple tree. These activities helped strengthen their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and early counting abilities.
Our toddlers explored early math concepts using real crab apples collected from the schoolyard. With the help of control cards, they practiced identifying and comparing big, medium, and small apples. To extend the learning, the children then used pre-cut apples to match and sort them into baskets according to their sizes, strengthening their size recognition and matching skills through hands-on exploration.
For art, the children created apple prints by dipping pre-cut apples into paint and pressing them onto paper baskets. They also experimented with painted bubble wrap and rolling pins, watching as the paint transferred onto paper to create interesting textures and patterns.
Alongside our apple exploration, we connected our learning to the Bible story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We listened to the song “Adam and Eve” by Timbercity Foursquare Gospel Church and talked about God’s beautiful creation, including trees, plants, and fruits. Our apple tree activities provided a meaningful way to connect the world around us with the Bible story we shared.
Through these engaging experiences, our toddlers explored early literacy, mathematics, sensory discovery, and creative expression. Most importantly, their curiosity about the apples they discovered outdoors blossomed into joyful learning, helping them make connections between nature, the stories we read, and God’s wonderful creation.