Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!: Thinking Theme: An Apple A Day

Letter of the Week: Aa

Number of the Week: 7

Bible Verse of the Week: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

Books:

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Lesson 1: Apple Tree Picture
* I found this fun craft here at Handprint and Footprint Art

Objectives:

* To understand that apples grow on trees
* To recognize the parts of an apple tree (leaves, trunk, branches, apples)
* To create an apple tree using fingerprints
* To use the fine motor skills involved with tracing, cutting, gluing, and fingerprint painting

Materials:
* white and brown construction paper
* red and green stamp pads
* scissors
* pencil or pen
* red marker

Procedure:
1. Have your child place their hand on the brown construction paper and trace around it. Be sure to include some of the forearm, too. This will represent the trunk of the tree.

2. Cut out the hand/arm print and glue it to the white construction paper.

3. Have your child place one finger onto the green stamp pad and then onto the white construction paper multiple times. These prints will represent the leaves.

4. Do the same with the red stamp pad to represent apples. Sawyer even put some red fingerprints on the bottom of the page as if the apples had fallen out of the tree!

Extension:

* Create pictures of the apple tree for each season. Here is an example from Education.com.

Lesson 2: Apple File Folder Game
(File folder games are great ways to work on counting, letter matching, patterning, etc. I created this apple counting game to go along with the theme. You can create lots of different games just using some clip art and your imagination!)

Objectives:
* To use one-to-one correspondence to match apples together
* To count seeds and match them with the correct written number
* To count from 1-10

Materials:
* printables of game

* file folder
* scissors
* glue or tape

Procedure:

1. Print out the pieces for the game, cut them out, and put them together like this:

2. Have your child count the seeds on each apple and match them to the corresponding apples on the folder.

3. Sawyer loved this game and played it all week. If you can, get the folder and the seeded apples laminated. It will help the game last longer!

Extension:

* There are some other apple file folder games found here at File Folder Fun.

Lesson 3: Apple Investigation

Objectives:
* To learn the properties and characteristics of an apple and describe them
* To use specific senses and measurement to discover these characteristics
* To use the fine motor skills involved with feeling, measuring, cutting, drawing, and writing

Materials:
* any kind of apple
* knife
* think tank (pencils and crayons, specifically)
* measuring tape
* investigation printout

Procedure:
1. Allow your child to explore the outside of an apple by looking, smelling, and touching. Have them answer the different questions on the worksheet. Guide their hand or have them write the answers themselves.

2. Let your child draw a picture of what the apple looks like on the outside.

3. Then cut the apple in half. Talk about the change in colors on the inside, as well as the seeds.

4. Draw a picture of the inside of the apple.

5. Finally, have your child taste the apple and describe what it tastes like!

Lesson 4: What kind of apple is your favorite?/Apple Stamping
Objectives:
* To understand that there are multiple types of apples and each one tastes differently
* To recognize the different colors of the apples
* To taste each type and decide on a favorite
* To create apple prints with paint
* To use the fine motor skills involved with stamping and painting

Materials:
* 3-4 different types of apples (We used red delicious, granny smith, and golden delicious.)
* knife
* red, yellow, and green paint
* white construction paper
* paper plates
* drop cloth
* something to cover your child's clothes

Procedure:
1. Explain to your child that their are many different types of apples. Ask the child if they think all of the apples taste the same. Then explain they are going to taste different kinds of apples to see if they are correct.

2. Cut one of the apples in half. Save one half off to the side, and let your child taste a piece of the other half.

3. Do this same procedure for each type of apple.

4. After all of the apples have been tasted, ask your child to choose their favorite kind!

Red Delicious was Sawyer's favorite!

5. Place a little bit of each color paint on a paper plate. Since the apples we used were red, green, and yellow, those were the paint colors we used, as well.

6. Dip one half of an apple into the paint and then press it onto the white paper. Have your child hold it down for a few seconds to make sure you get a good print of the inside of the apple.

7. Continue with each type of apple. Here is Sawyer's completed product:

Extension:
* Ask family members or friends to also taste the apples and tell your child what their favorite is. You can then create a graph, and see which apple people like the most/least.

Lesson 5: Apple Muffins (My Meemaw's Recipe)
Objectives:
* To bake apple muffins by following a specific recipe
* To understand the order and procedure to making the muffins
* To measure out certain ingredients
* To use the motor skills involved with pouring, stirring, cutting, and scooping

Materials:
(This recipe makes 12 muffins. I doubled it to make 24.)
* 1 and 1/2 cups of flour
* 3/4 tsp. salt
* 1/2 tsp. baking powder
* 1 cup of sugar
* 2 eggs, well beaten
* 1/2 cup of oil
* 1/2 tsp. of vanilla
* 1/8 tsp. of almond extract (if you have it)
* 1 and 1/4 cups of chopped apples
* mixing bowl
* measuring cups and spoons
* knife
* mixing spoon
* muffin tin and liners