All About Apples! {Free Printable}

It is almost back to school and we are all so excited, running around and gathering our goodies for back to school.

Yes, we homeschool and yes again, we homeschool year-round, but we like to have a “starting point” every year.

I figured we could have August or September as our starting month. As homeschoolers, is there a preferred month to start and end school?

In this post, we are so excited to show you a lesson we did on apples with an awesome book we read and we are offering our apple craft as a free printable for you to do at home, too.

Why apples?

Well, apples have always been a symbol for school in my mind and I like to sometimes take apples to my teachers growing up (or just give them the apple out of my own lunchbox).

We hope you enjoy this lesson!

Amazing Apple Books

We LOVE our “Secrets of the Apple Tree” book!

It is, first of all, very entertaining for adults and children alike, it is educational and sharing many interesting facts about apple trees.

Also, it has a very unique feature that will keep your children coming back to read it over and over!

The secret?

You need a flashlight to discover the secrets in the book!

Look low to see what I am talking about. First, you read the page and see a beautiful apple tree on it.

Then, you dim the lights, turn your flashlight on and shine it on the back of the page to reveal what is hiding inside the tree.

It is amazing!

I wish you would’ve seen my children’s faces as we discovered secrets in every page!

The discovered all kinds of creatures and things that were hiding in and around the apple tree!

Here is another example with the apple.

I am trying to not give away the story, but these pictures are just too cool to not share! It’ll make you want to get your children their own copy, for sure!

Wouldn’t it be fun to read this book on their first day of school?! I think yes!

There are other flashlight books by the same company that you might want to check out.

This one is “Secrets of the Apple Tree.” They also have “Secrets of the Rain Forest,” “Secrets of the Seashore” “Secrets of the Vegetable Garden,” and even “Secrets of Winter!”

Going back to the apple book, we read more books that thought us about apple trees and about apples.

I will share those with you below.

It is exciting to see children so engaged in learning and making lessons interactive and fun.

Here are some more books we read:

Apples, Apples and Apples! 🙂 Three great books named the same! 🙂

Apple Counting Craft {Free Printable}

I made this craft with my 3-year old princess and she was focused, excited and admiring the beautiful end product.

Here is what you need: print the free printable set (at the end of this post) in color, contact paper (about 2 feet by 8 inches or so), scissors and a child.

Once you pretend the set, cut the numbered apples into a long rectangle (like you see below) and set it aside for a minute.

Then cut all of the nine larger apples carefully. It is quick, so you can do it with your child there or prior to doing the activity. Cut the number rectangles as well.
Steps:

1. Place the numbered apples rectangle in front of your child and the number rectangles all mixed up.
2. Ask your child to take one number rectangle and find the matching number on the numbered apples.
3. Place the number rectangle over the correct number. Continue to do so until all 9 numbers are in place.
4. Once the numbers are matched up correctly, set that aside.
5. You can have your child pick up numbers randomly (for example, 6,8,1,5,9, etc).
6. Ask him/her the name of that number or you can also ask your child to find the numbers in order (for example 1,2,3,4,5,etc).
7. Place a rectangle of contact paper in front of your child. It should be about 24 inches (2 feet) long and about 8 inches wide.
8. Take the backing off and have the contact paper face up (sticky part is facing up).
9. On the top and center of the contact paper, place the title of the craft (also included in the printable) or feel free to make your own.
10. Use the numbered apple rectangle as a key for your child to see the correct order of the apples.
11. One by one, have your child place the apples on the sticky contact paper in the correct order until they are all in place.
12. Next come the numbers. Your child now has the numbers ordered on the numbered apples rectangle, so all he/she has to do is transfer them to the contact paper, placing one number underneath each apple.
13. The last step is to take the contact paper and place it on the back of a glass door or window. It looks beautiful when light hits it and when it is dark inside, too.

Sister has been admiring her craft since she made it and loves having it displayed on our glass door like that.

What do you think?

Will you put together a fun lesson on apples for Back to School?

Grab your printable set here!

Here are more apple posts you might enjoy:

1. Cinnamon Applesauce Recipe to make with your children

2. Simple Apple Mosaic Craft for Preschoolers

3. Parts of a Fruit Lesson (Free Printable Set)

4. “For the Love of Trees” Lessons, Books, FREE Printables & Hands-on Activities

But wait! There is more! Here are some amazing Back to School posts that you will also love!

All About Apples for Back to School {Free Printables} | The Natural Homeschool

Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes Craft Ideas | Artsy Momma

Alphabet Adventure Letter Sort | School Time Snippets

What Pet Should I Get Activities | Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading

Maisy Goes to Preschool: Back to Preschool Printable Pack | Simple Fun for Kids