For the first day of your apple theme, ask each student to bring an apple to school. Sit together and group the apples by color and count how many apples are in each group. You can also group the apples by making a graph. On butcher paper create columns for red, yellow and green apples. Mark a square for each apple brought to class, and then help your students interpret the graph once it is completed. With your students' help, arrange the apples by size from smallest to largest. These simple activities teach your students how to classify the apples by size and color.
This activity is ideal for an art center in class. Use some apples as stamps to create works of art. When an apple is cut in half horizontally, the core resembles a star. Cut a few apples in half to reveal the star and give the kids a tray of paint. Your students can dip the apples into the paint and then stamp them onto their paper. Give each child several pieces of paper so that they can practice making their best star stamp. Your students will strengthen their fine motor skills with this apple activity.
Divide the students into groups of three for this game. Reserve the seeds from the apples that you or your students brought to class or use beans and pretend that they are apple seeds. Give each player five seeds and every group a work mat with numbered squares. Each player gets a turn to gently toss their seeds onto the work mat. Help them add up the numbers that their seeds land on and then record the number on paper or chalkboard. The student with the highest number at the end of the round wins the game.
Cooking with your students teaches them lessons in science and math, as well as the importance of carefully following directions. Ask each child to bring an apple to school and create an apple dessert with your class. Use a crock pot in the classroom to make applesauce, or if you are able to bake at your school, try an apple crisp, pie or baked apples. Wash and peel the apples and then as a class measure out the ingredients needed for your recipe. Allow plenty of time to cook, cool and serve your dessert before school is out. For kid-friendly apple recipe ideas see the Resource section.