Make a set of apple cards to help children recognize words. Cut 10 apple-size red, green and yellow circles from construction paper. Write nouns that fit the Johnny Appleseed theme on the paper apples. Choose the words "Apple," "Seed" and "Tree," or "Core," "Pot" and "Pie." Draw a simple picture beneath the word on each card. Consider the skill level of your preschoolers when deciding words to include on the cards. Place the cards into a saucepan. Working in pairs, children dump the apples from the saucepan, then take turns reading aloud the word on each card. After the activity, children place the apples back into the saucepan for the next pair to read.
Encourage creative expression as preschoolers narrate a recipe. Draw a cooking-pot shape onto an 8-by-10-inch sheet of paper. Copy the shape onto sheets of gray card stock. Cut out the cooking pots. Ask preschoolers to think of a recipe for a food made with apples that Johnny Appleseed might have prepared in the pot that he wore on his head. Let the children take turns telling you the recipes. Copy individual recipes, using the exact words each child says, onto index cards. Turn the gray card stock pots over like Johnny Appleseed's "hat." Glue the index cards onto the pots. Display the recipes on your classroom bulletin board, or on the wall in your language center.
Gather props so preschoolers can participate in dramatic play about Johnny Appleseed. Place a basket of Johnny Appleseed clothes --- a white shirt, brown vest and pants, cut-off and frayed below the knees --- and a cooking pot with a handle in a basket. Add a pouch filled with real apple seeds or brown foam circle shapes. Place plastic toy apples in the basket. Read a story about Johnny Appleseed to the children. If you don't have a book about Johnny Appleseed, visit the library to choose one for the class. Let children take turns dressing up as Johnny Appleseed, spreading seeds and pretending to cook in the pot. Encourage the children to talk to "Johnny" and ask him questions. Make sure each child gets a chance to dress and answer questions as Johnny Appleseed.
During quiet classroom time, offer a language activity that teaches preschoolers to identify and match letters to form the words "Johnny Appleseed." Buy a jumbo tub of foam letter shapes where craft or teaching supplies are sold. Select letters from the tub to spell Johnny's name. Arrange the foam letters onto strips of card stock. Trace the letters with a permanent marker. Place the foam letters that spell the name into a zipper baggie. Let children open the baggie, remove the letters and place them on the card stock strip, on top of the matching letters.
Choose additional Johnny Appleseed-themed words to make more letter matching activities.