I have been choosing topics and doing mini lessons with my three year old son while I homeschool my 3 older children. Since we recently went apple picking for the 1st time I chose an apple theme.
We started off by doing two apple crafts. These crafts were super easy to make and I used materials and craft supplies I already had on hand.
The first craft was a paper plate apple:
Materials:
Red finger paint
paper plate
Green and brown card stock
I drizzled red paint onto the front side of the paper plate and my son finger painted the paint. We allowed it to dry and then I made a steam and two leaves out of the card stock and he glued them on back of the paper plate sticking up so that you could see them facing outwards.
The second craft was an apple tree:
Materials:
Construction paper or card stock
Green finger paint
Red Dot Paint Marker
I traced a circle on the construction paper (you can use a paper plate instead but I ran out so I improvised). Cut out the circle and then drizzle green paint onto the circle for my son to finger paint the circle which is the top of the tree. Once the green paint dried I gave him a red dot paint maker he painted apples on the tree.
Then I traced my son’s hand and his arm up to his elbow and cut it out – this is the tree branches and tree trunk. Then he glued it to the top of the apple tree.
We also read the following books to go along with our mini lesson:
Up, Up, Up! It’s Apple Picking Time
Other activities
Apple picking
Placing small pony beads “apples” into a small tray filled with tiny holes
Coloring, cutting and placing the apple tree life cycle in order and gluing in place.
Have you started fall lessons, theme units studies or crafts yet with your kids?
Mama to 5 Blessings is also linking this post at:
Sunday: Heart Nap Time, Flamingo Toes, Nifty Thrifty Things, DIY Show Off, 1+1+1=1, Sunday Showcase // Monday: Enchanted Homeschooling Mom. C.R.A.F.T. Boogieboard Cottage, Sew Can Do,Sumos Sweet Stuff,Pursuit of Function a Home, DIY Home Sweet Home, Keeping It Simple, Mad in Crafts, So Much Better with Age, Skip to My Lou, Cupcakes & Crinoline Deceptively Educational, // Tuesday: Creative Blog, Hope Studios, Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just a Housewife, Linda’s Lunacy, Cozy Little House, Coastal Charm, Nap-time Creations, Elizabeth & Co., Learn With Play at Home //Wednesday: It’s Overflowing, DYI by Design, Southern Lovely, Vintage Gwen, Artsy Play,Creations by Kara, High Heels and Grills, Ginger Snap Crafts, Someday Crafts, Polka Dots on Parade, 36th Avenue, Life with the Crust Cut Off, Toddly Mummy, Rainy Day Mum, Simply Designing, // Thursday: Artsy Fartsy Mama, 52 Mantels, No Minimalist Here, Imparting Grace, Kid’s Activity Blog, // Friday: Living Life Intentionally, Flaunt it Friday, The Charm of Home, French Country Cottage, Redoux, Simply Sweet Home, Shabby Nest, Thirty Handmade Days, Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers, Homeschool Creations, // Saturday: Crafty Moms Share, Sugar Ants, Funky Junk Interiors, Six Sisters Stuff, Tatertots and Jello, Or so she says, Your Homebased Mom, Too Much Time on my Hands, I Can Teach My Child
They both came out so cute. I love them and how easy they are to make.
Easy is the name of the game for me! Haha!
These are such fun ideas! I’m gonna have to play with my kiddos and see what we can create 😉
Those are so cute. I love the apple tree with the hand print!
The apple tree really turned out cute, didn’t it?
What a neat fall activity for the little ones. We went to pick apples and it never occurred to me how to further the experience by doing a craft! Thanks for sharing.
I LOVE this craft. I even have all the stuff randomly through the house. Thanks for the idea my little toddler is going to love this project.
Those are such cute ideas. I am going to try the apple tree with my daughter.
Thats the one im gonna do with my daughter as well, best of luck!
Love the paper plate apple project! It’s something that my 18 month old could definitely do with a bit of help from me.
These crafts are perfect for kids of all ages!
That looks like so much fun! I remember when my kids made these in school!
My son would love this, he is all about crafts.
All great ideas, and not just for toddlers! My girls still like making crafts like this.
What a cute idea. I think my 4 year olds will really enjoy this craft!
The perfect project for fall!
I love the craft and activities and these types of things are always so great to get them to remember what you are trying to get them to learn.
This is so cute! My son would love making these. I’ll have to try the apple tree one this weekend with him – thanks for sharing!
Love this, such great ideas for all
I love the paper plate apple tree – so perfect for this time of year!
Such fun Fall activities! How fun and easy is that apple picking activity?! I think we will be doing that this weekend!
Very cool projects! I cant wait to try em with my three year old, i know she’ll love em!
Nice!! I love homemade crafts like these. And great for the kids to have when they grow up for their children. Love souvenirs like this.
such a great craft. that is something my daughter (preschooler) could do while I work on more intense homework with the older boys.
This is so cute. I love the idea of the apple tree with their little wrist/hand. We won’t go apple picking this year but definitely something we can still do. I’ve been looking for crafts for my little guy to do.
That is so cute and simple, I bookmarked this to do with my twins. They love crafts!
So cute – I remember doing these with my kids and how proud they were of the finished products! Apple season is THE best – enjoy!!
what a fun fall craft! This is perfect for my 3-year-old, I can’t wait to try it with her!
Paper plate crafts are the best. They’re easy to do, and kids don’t get frustrated.
These are so cute and I know my little girl would love to make these! Thanks for the adorable craft ideas!
These are such cute ideas! I love the apple tree craft.
Such a cute idea. Great way to incorporate something he enjoyed doing like apple picking.
I love how the tree is made from their arm. Thanks for sharing.
My daughter is doing an apple program in school right now. I will do some apple crafts at home too. What fun!
Love the using the red dot marker idea! My daughter would have so much fun with that!
we have apple trees in our yard so we’re cooking and baking with apples a lot. i rarely do crafts with them- i should!
I used to love doing crafts like these with my son when he was young. There’s nothing more fun than watching your child be creative.
Your son is so adorable! Look at those eyes. Look at that hair!
I love projects like this. They’re a great way to encourage creativity and to bond with the kiddies.
What a cute and easy project!
These are such adorable projects. I used to do things like this with my daughter all the time when she was younger.
These are so cute. What a great craft for the little ones.
Very cute and festive crafts that any toddler would love to create 🙂
so cute. i’m going to try this with my daughters.
what a fun way to bring art into a great learning experience. NOt many kids have picked foods from their natural place
How fun and a great learning tool! I love this idea.
Perfect for this time of year! Love it!
I always loved doing crafts with my little ones. These are great. I have a little apple tree in my yard. It produced all of 3 apples.There’s not much apple picking fun there.
Great way to learn too. I love the paper plate art and the apple picking… Miss that.
These are so cute. I may have to try some with my boys.
Hi, a lovely piece of kid’s art. Can’t wait for my child to be old enough to try it out 🙂
Great crafts! I love using the bingo dabber as the shape for the apples.
Such a lovely idea. Love the final art work.
I love the apple tree craft. So perfect for Fall!
What a fun and cool craft! Perfect for the season!
This post makes me wish that I had an apple tree in our yard. I think my two youngest would enjoy these crafts.
These are all such cute ideas!
These are so adorable! I’m going to have to make these with my kiddos.
Such cute crafts! Thx for linking them up at the thoughtful spot!
The apple tree is such a cute craft idea! My grandsons would love to make this and it looks easy for them to do.
What cute crafts! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!
What a fabulous, fun idea! My kids are really into paper crafting these days, especially if there is paint involved 😉
I love this post! Such great idea’s! 🙂