Apples, Apples, Apples!

This week we dove right in to more fall themed activities with a super yummy and fun apple week! Nothing says fall quite like nice, crisp apples (except maybe pumpkins, but I’m saving those for October!) and we had a blast sorting them, counting them and of course eating them! So join us in the orchard and lets get started!

–Apple pie playdough: You guuuuuuuuuys! This smelled SO GOOD and made my little’s room smell super yummy all day after we played with it in there! The boys were engaged for a full hour, poking it with toy tools and then playing “cookie shop”- definitely a must-do activity! I used the recipe I found at Natural Beach Living but tweaked it a bit. Here’s the recipe:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 TBSP cream of tartar
• 2 TBSP cooking oil
• 1 TBSP apple essential oil (found on Amazon)
• 3 TBSP cinnamon
• 1 1/4 cups of water

Mix everything but the water together in a bowl. Heat the water in a tea kettle or in the microwave so it’s VERY hot, but not quite boiling. Stir the water in (I did this part so the boys didn’t get burned) and kneed the dough until it’s smooth. If it’s too dry, add a bit more water…too wet, add a bit more flour- then play!

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–Apple stamping: Oh man did my toddler LOVE this activity! You simply cut an apple in half through it’s middle (rather than stem down) and you get a fun star stamp! Swirl it in a little paint and let your little go to town stamping on a piece of card stock! I got this idea from Green Kid Crafts!

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–Apple color sorting: This is a fun and easy activity that you can do more than once with your little- you give them a bunch of apples in differing colors (we used red, green and yellow) and show them how to put the red ones in a group, the yellow ones in a group and so on. Then let them try!

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–Apple counting: After we finished our apple sorting, I asked my little to put the apples back in the basket (we just used an Easter basket from the closet!) and I counted them as he went.

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–Apple and worm threading: We got this activity on Amazon for the boys for long car rides, so I had to pull it out for apple week! They practice fine motor skills by threading the worm through the holes in the apple!

–Applesauce recipe: Can you even do an apple week without making homemade applesauce!? It’s so easy and SO yummy! We cored and cut up 6 apples (we used 3 gala, 1 red delicious, 1 granny smith, and 1 ambrosia but any 6 apples that are on the sweet side would work!) and placed them in the crockpot with 3 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (you can skip this if your toddler isn’t a fan of tart things) and 1 cup of apple cider then let them simmer on high for about an hour and a half. When they had finished I popped them on a plate to cool, and threw some ice cubes in the juices to cool them off too. Then I added the apples and juices to the blender and pureed them until smooth! YUM!

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–Apple cookie recipe: So our “cookie shop” play with our apple pie playdough inspired us to find a real recipe for apple cookies, and we found one at My Recipe Magic that turned out pretty yummy! They came out kind of huge because I cut the recipe in half but then accidentally added too many eggs because I wasn’t paying attention (mom life with a toddler and a preschooler!), but they were still yummy and super soft!

–Apple coloring and stickers: My preschooler was working on an apple counting activity with stickers and his little brother wanted to get in on the fun, so I drew an apple on a sheet of paper and let my toddler color it then add some apple stickers. Stickers are great for building fine motor skills, and kids LOVE them!

–Apple dot painting: My toddler is super pumped about do-a-dot markers lately, so I printed out this activity for him to create some art and also work on his hand-eye coordination. He started off great by “putting a dot in the circle” as I asked, then when he had done them all, he just went crazy polka dotting everywhere! It came out very Eric Carle! LoL The Resourceful Mama has the printable for free!

–Supply/shopping list:

• red, yellow and green apples
• red dot marker
• apple/worm threading toy
• flour
• salt
• cream of tartar
• apple scented essential oil
• cinnamon
• cookie ingredients