I love a themed day in the classroom, but Apple Day is one of my favorites. It signifies the kick-off of the fall season, and I am here for cooler temperatures, flannels, apple everything, and a reason to celebrate with my firsties!
I’ll be honest, I love Apple Day so much that it’s hard not to keep planning more and more activities. It might have to become Apple Week! Apple Day is a great way to integrate various subjects with hands-on learning. And tasting an apple or two. I invite my students to wear plaid or flannels, and we kick off our shoes to celebrate as Johnny Appleseed would.
We start the day by decorating Johnny Appleseed pot hats. It’s an opportunity for my kiddos to color and assemble their hats as we talk about what we will do all day. They also loved wearing them home to share with their friends and families.
Read Alouds
A themed day isn’t complete without read-alouds! On Apple Day, we usually get to about two or three books, but we continue to read them throughout the week, and they are always available for my students to grab during independent reading.
Below is a list of my favorites:
Bad Apple by Edward Hemingway
The Seasons of Arnold’s Appletree by Gail Gibbons
The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall
Applesauce Day by Lisa J. Amstutz
The Biggest Apple Ever by Steven Kroll
Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallota
An Apple’s Life by Nancy Dickmann
Apples for Everyone by Jill Esbaum
Johnny Appleseed by Jane Kurtz
Apples by Gail Gibbons
Apples, Apples, Apples by Mary Elizabeth Wallace
Annie the Apple Pie Fairy by Thomas Nelson
A was Once a Apple Pie by Edward Lear
Videos
One of my favorite things about technology is the ability to give my students real-life views using educational videos. So many awesome videos highlight Johnny Appleseed, harvesting apples, and even some fun songs.
Crafts, Tasting, and MORE!
There isn’t enough time in the day to do all the activities I’d like with my firsties but dissecting an apple is definitely a must-do. When we do an apple theme, we always teach students about the life cycle and the parts of an apple, but there is no better way to learn than by providing real-life and hands-on experience.
As we cut and take a closer look at an apple, we also complete our 3D diagrams. Doing these activities hand in hand helps students retain what they learned about the apples.
It’s not Apple Day without a poem, and it was so fun to watch my students write acrostic poems that go along with a fun craft. We did apple glyphs which were really fun to display! A fun and easy way to decorate your classroom for the fall season.
The highly anticipated part of the day….apple tasting! Each student was asked to bring a red, yellow, and green apple. Then we did a taste test where students would write down how the apple tasted. Was it sweet? Sour? Grainy? After we finished tasting, we talked about all the different ways to eat apples and graphed our favorites. You can grab the graph as a freebie here.
Apple STEM
Well, I thought tasting would be the best part of the day, but I think Apple STEM takes the cake. It was incredible to watch my students’ creativity, logic, and collaboration come to life. I challenged my students to the task of building a catapult to launch apple pieces. And, when your teacher tells you that you get to toss chunks of apples across the room…well, you know it will be a fun day! They used cups, straws, rubber bands, and spoons. It was pretty neat and not to mention a fantastic STEM activity!
Apple Painting
Last but not least, we had so many apples so we cut them and made stampers for students to paint with. Who doesn’t love to paint with apples? It was just a fun way to round out a great day. I let my students use different colored paint for an open-ended activity.
More Fun Ideas
As the years go by, we are always adding new ideas to improve Apple Day. Another fun idea is to use apple chunks, toothpicks, and marshmallows to build structures. Make homemade applesauce, mix up apple-scented play-dough, and do apple science experiments.
For more fun activities to celebrate all things apples with your students, check out this bundle, and this one, and don’t forget to grab my freebie.
An Apple Day allows students to celebrate the fall season with a ton of fun, and hearing students talk about how it was the best day ever truly makes the entire experience that much better!
