Apple Trees & Seeds

Learning Goal: Apple trees have a life cycle. Commemorate Johnny Appleseed’s birthday (Sept. 26) with these activities.

• Reading= Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington, Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss, Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg and What’s So Terrible About Swallowing an Apple Seed by Harriet Lerner. Letter of the day= A is for apple.
• Science= Cut an apple in half to reveal the seeds inside. Help children visualize how a seed grows into a tree, a tree makes fruit, the fruit has seeds, and the seeds can be planted to grow another tree. Mix up visuals that represent different stages of the plant’s life cycle. Help children put them in the right sequence around a hula hoop to emphasize the cyclical nature of life.
• Art= Show Paul Cezanne’s Still Life with Basket of Apples. Notice the artist painted red, green and yellow apples. Stamp with apple halves using red, green and yellow paint. Try using a tall piece of paper to stamp apples one on top of the other. Count as you stamp!
• Play= Make applesauce or another favorite apple recipe. (How about an applesauce cake in honor of Johnny Appleseed's birthday!) Balance an apple (or apple-shaped bean bag) on your head while you walk across the room. Or, instruct children where to place an apple using positional words (e.g., inside, outside, above, below, on, in, behind, in front, top, bottom, between, etc.). Children will have fun moving their apple to a variety of locations around the room.

Fun fact: Johnny Appleseed's real name was John Chapman.