Tell your preschooler a story about Johnny Appleseed using an apple person on a stick as a puppet. Cut out an apple shape from red foam paper. Glue the apple on the end of a drinking straw, and let your preschooler glue on googly eyes or paint on a face for the apple person.
Show your preschooler how to paint an apple tree using finger paints. Start with green hand prints for the top of the tree, and help her paint a brown trunk down from the hand prints. Then have her use her thumbprint to paint red or yellow apples all over the tree.
Teach your preschooler about how worms like to eat apples with this activity. Cut out an apple shape from red or green construction paper. Use a hole punch to cut random holes out of the apple. Give the child a shoestring, pipe cleaner or piece of yarn and instruct him to weave it through the holes, pretending the material is a worm eating the apple. Explain that apples are food for many animals as he practices using his fine motor skills by lacing through the holes in the apple.
Listen with your preschooler to songs that feature Johnny Appleseed or apples, and get her to move to the music with silly dance moves, such as swinging her arms like apple tree limbs or rolling around on the floor like an apple. Recite poetry related to apples and sing nursery rhymes that mention apples. Examples of music based on the Johnny Appleseed theme include the poem "Johnny Appleseed" by Reeve Lindbergh and the lyrics to "The Wonderful Apple Tree" by Judy Pancoast.
Introduce your preschooler to an apple tree with a trip to an apple orchard. If apples are in season, pick a few from a tree. If apple trees are unavailable, take him to a market and introduce him to the variety of apples for sale. Let him pick out a few to take home and eat, or buy several to bake into a pie or make applesauce. Have him help with the cooking and taste-test the products of his hard work.
In the spirit of Johnny Appleseed, if you have the ground space, plant apple seeds or an apple tree sapling with your preschooler. Let her help you tend to the tree and provide it with water. Continue the tradition each year by planting an apple tree with your preschooler at your home or at the home of a loved one.