These apple circle time activities for preschool provide a simple way to explore an apple theme through songs, stories, counting, sorting, science, tasting and fine motor practice.
The five-day printable plan includes a song, suggested read-aloud and related learning activities for each day. Teachers and homeschoolers can follow the complete sequence or select individual activities to complement their existing preschool apple theme.
A Week of Apple Circle Time Activities for Preschool
The five-day printable plan includes a song, suggested read-aloud and related learning activities for each day. Teachers and homeschoolers can follow the complete sequence or select individual activities to complement their existing preschool apple theme.
The activities are organized into five daily themes:
- Day 1: Apples and apple trees
- Day 2: Apple colors
- Day 3: How apples look and taste
- Day 4: The apple life cycle
- Day 5: Foods made from apples
Teachers can follow the complete sequence or select individual songs, printables and activities to complement an existing preschool apple theme.
Day 1: Preschool Apple Tree Activities
The first day introduces apples and where they grow. Begin by inviting children to share what they already know about apples and apple trees. Questions such as “Where do apples grow?” and “What colors can apples be?” can encourage children to contribute to the discussion.
The suggested read-aloud for Day 1 is Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins. This playful counting story complements the apple tree theme and provides an opportunity to count aloud together.
Way Up High in the Apple Tree Song
“Way Up High in the Apple Tree” is sung to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Children can hold up two fingers for the two apples, pretend to shake the tree and act out eating the apples as they sing.
The included red and green apple props can be attached to craft sticks and held up during the song. These visual props can help young children follow the words and remain engaged.
Counting Apple Seeds Worksheet
The Counting Apple Seeds worksheet gives children practice counting the seeds inside each apple and matching the quantity to the correct numeral.
Children can color the apples, trace the lines and find the matching numbers at the bottom of the page. The activity supports:
- Counting quantities
- Matching numerals to quantities
- One-to-one correspondence
- Number recognition
- Fine motor development
For a cut-and-paste activity, children can cut out the numerals and glue each one beneath the matching apple. Children who are not ready to cut independently can point to, circle or color the correct numbers instead.
Apples in the Apple Tree Coloring Craft
For the apple tree craft, children can color the apples red, green or yellow. They can also color the stems brown and the leaves green before the apples are added to a large classroom tree.
This activity can become a collaborative classroom display. Children can take turns placing their apples on the tree while singing “Way Up High in the Apple Tree.”
Day 2: Preschool Apple Color Activities
The second day of these apple circle time activities for preschool focuses on the three apple colors young children are most likely to recognize: red, green and yellow.
The suggested read-aloud is Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington. The story introduces apple picking, sorting and some of the different foods that can be made from apples.
Red Apple, Green Apple Song
The “Red Apple, Green Apple” song introduces red, green and yellow apples through a short, repetitive verse sung to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
Children can hold up the matching apple prop whenever its color is named. The repetition makes it easier for preschoolers to join in, even when they are still learning the words.
Apple Color Sorting Activity
After introducing the three colors, children can sort the apple cards onto the matching red, green and yellow crates.
The activity can first be demonstrated during circle time and then placed in a math center for additional practice. Begin with two colors for children who are new to sorting, and introduce the third color when they are ready.
Apple color sorting helps children practice:
- Recognizing and naming colors
- Comparing objects
- Sorting by an observable attribute
- Developing early classification skills
- Using color vocabulary
Falling Apples Tracing Worksheet
The Falling Apples worksheet combines apple-themed coloring with prewriting practice. Children trace the paths from the apples in the tree to the matching apples on the ground.
The different straight and curved paths help develop pencil control and prepare little hands for forming letters and numerals. Children can trace each path with a different colored crayon, pencil or marker.
Day 3: Preschool Apple Taste-Test Activities
Day 3 provides opportunities for children to observe, compare and taste different kinds of apples. It is also a natural way to introduce descriptive vocabulary and simple scientific thinking.
The suggested informational book is Apples for Everyone by Jill Esbaum. Its photographs can help children notice different apple colors, textures and varieties.
Types of Apples Chart
Use the Types of Apples poster to introduce several apple varieties. Encourage children to notice that apples can be green, yellow, red or a mixture of colors. They can also compare differences in shape, size and skin markings.
Teachers do not need to provide every variety shown on the poster. Two or three noticeably different apples are enough for a meaningful preschool investigation.
How Do Apples Taste?
The How Apples Taste chart helps children understand that some apples are sweeter while others are more tart or sour.
The chart compares Gala, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith apples. As children examine or taste the apples, encourage them to use descriptive words such as:
- Sweet
- Tart
- Sour
- Crisp
- Crunchy
- Juicy
- Soft
Both tart and sour versions of the chart are included so teachers can choose the vocabulary that best suits their learners.
What Apple Tastes Best?
A class apple taste test allows children to sample red, green and yellow apples before choosing a favorite.
Each child can color a small apple voting card to match their preferred apple and place it beneath the corresponding picture on the class graph. When all the votes have been added, compare the columns to determine which apple received the most and fewest votes.
This activity introduces early graphing and data-comparison concepts while encouraging children to express a personal preference.
Always check for allergies and follow your school or center’s food-safety policies before offering a tasting activity.
Apple Dot-Paint Activity
The Apple Dot Activity gives children a fun way to strengthen fine motor skills. Children fill the circles inside the apple with a red bingo dabber or dot-paint marker and fill the circles on the leaf with green.
Using dot paints encourages controlled hand movements, visual attention and hand-eye coordination. It can also be an inviting alternative for children who are reluctant to complete traditional coloring pages.
Crunchy, Crunchy Apples Song
Finish the apple taste activities with “Crunchy, Crunchy Apples,” sung to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” The red, green and yellow apple props can be held up as the colors are named.
Day 4: Apple Life Cycle Activities for Preschool
Day 4 introduces the way an apple grows from a tiny seed into part of a fruit-bearing tree.
The suggested read-aloud is The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons. The story helps children observe how an apple tree changes throughout the seasons.
Apple Life Cycle Poster
The Apple Life Cycle poster introduces five recognizable stages:
- Seed
- Sprout
- Tree
- Blossoms
- Apple
Follow the arrows around the poster and name each stage. Children can also act out the cycle by curling into a tiny seed, slowly growing into a sprout, stretching into a tree, opening their hands like blossoms and forming a round apple with their arms.
Apple Life Cycle Sequencing Worksheet
The related worksheet allows children to color the apple life cycle pictures and arrange the stages in the correct sequence.
This activity helps children understand that living things grow and change in a predictable order. It also supports sequencing, visual discrimination and science vocabulary.
Children who are not ready to cut and paste can color the intact page and point to each stage as they retell the life cycle.
Growing an Apple Tree Song
The “Growing an Apple Tree” song reinforces the life cycle stages through movement and repetition. It is sung to the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus.”
Children can move down like a seed entering the soil, stretch upward like a sprout, open their hands like blossoms and form a large circle with their arms for the growing apple.
Day 5: Preschool Applesauce Activities
The final day of the apple theme explores how fresh apples can be transformed into applesauce.
The suggested read-aloud is Applesauce Day by Lisa J. Amstutz, illustrated by Talitha Shipman. The book provides a helpful connection between the apples children have been investigating and the process of preparing food.
Crockpot Applesauce Recipe
The included Crockpot Applesauce recipe outlines the ingredients and steps needed to make a simple batch of applesauce.
Depending on the classroom setting, children may be able to help with safe tasks such as:
- Counting the apples
- Washing the apples
- Measuring water
- Adding cinnamon
- Observing how the apples change
- Smelling or tasting the finished applesauce
All peeling, cutting, cooking and handling of hot equipment should be completed by an adult.
How to Make Applesauce Sequencing Worksheet
The applesauce sequencing worksheet shows three important steps: preparing the apples, peeling them and cooking them in a crockpot.
Children can color the pictures before placing the events in order from one to three. Encourage them to use sequencing words such as first, next and last as they describe the process.
The printable supports:
- Event sequencing
- Oral language
- Process vocabulary
- Recall and comprehension
- Fine motor development
Younger children can leave the worksheet intact and orally identify the correct order rather than cutting the pictures apart.
Yummy Apple Creations Song
Conclude the week with “Yummy Apple Creations,” sung to the tune of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.” The song introduces three foods made from apples: applesauce, apple juice and apple pie.
Pictures or real examples of the three apple foods can be displayed as the corresponding verses are introduced.
Preschool Apple Books for Circle Time
The following five books complement the daily themes:
- Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins
- Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington
- Apples for Everyone by Jill Esbaum
- The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons
- Applesauce Day by Lisa J. Amstutz, illustrated by Talitha Shipman
Displaying the books together in the circle time area makes them easy to revisit throughout the week. The read-alouds can also be placed in the classroom library after each one has been introduced.
The books are suggested read-alouds and are not included with the printable resource.
Preparing Apple Circle Time Activities for Preschool
The complete packet can be prepared in advance and organized by day, or teachers can print only the activities that best complement their existing plans.
For easy classroom organization:
- Print song posters and teaching charts on cardstock.
- Laminate reusable posters, sorting mats and picture cards.
- Print individual worksheets on regular paper.
- Place each day’s materials in a labeled folder or deep classroom tub.
- Store larger posters in an upright A4 file holder with high sides.
- Attach frequently used song props to craft sticks.
- Keep crayons, dot paints, glue and child-safe scissors nearby.
Organizing the materials by day makes it easy to move from the song and group discussion to the related hands-on activity.
Using Apple Circle Time Activities for Preschool
These apple circle time activities for preschool bring music, movement, early math, science, language and fine motor practice together within one connected theme.
Children can sing, count, sort, observe, taste, vote, sequence and discuss their discoveries. Because the activities are connected, new vocabulary and concepts can be revisited throughout the week in several different ways.
Purchase the Complete Apple Circle TIme Activities for Preschool
You can find the complete Preschool Circle Time: Apples printable resource in my online stores.
Happy Teaching! 😊
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