Red Apples....Yellow Apples....Green Apples

 

You might have noticed a wonderful, fall smell when you dropped off the kiddos this morning.  We started the day off at the table molding, and smashing, and tearing pumpkin scented play-do.  They all seemed to enjoy the smell.....and it sure made the classroom smell nice for the rest of the day!

Ms. Michele was here today.  There were two lines of activities and the kids took turns going through each set of obstacles.  One included a tunnel to crawl through, and the other had colored circles on which the kids were supposed to jump.  Both lines met in the middle with a variety of different colored and textured balls.  The kids picked a ball and tried to toss it in the basket.  Each time through, Ms. Michele moved the baskets a little farther back to make it more difficult.  Next, we moved to the sidewalk for messy finger fun.  Everyone chose a different animal.  There were lions, and giraffes, and elephants, and hippos.  They were then given different colors molding clay with which to make "animal food".  They could shape it any way they wanted.  Some of them made balls, and some made actual "food" shapes.  Once they were finished making food, Ms. Michele gave them some sidewalk chalk for them to draw their animal a house.  The kids took this responsibility VERY seriously.  They asked for help and drew elaborate constructions for their animals.  It was so neat to see their creative energies in action!

Our book today was I Am An Apple by Jean Marzollo.  This story explains some basic facts about apples.  Each apples has five seeds inside shaped like a star.  Apples grow on trees.  The colored outside of the apple is called the skin.  Apple trees have flowers that are called blossoms.  There are many different kinds of apples and they all taste different.  Apples come in three basic colors:  red, yellow, and green.  We learned so many great things about apples.

 

Once we finished the book, we made a chart to help us remember some important things about apples.  The kids did a great job recalling the facts!

 

We skipped art today to compare three different apples.  The kids clearly identified that they were all different colors.  When we cut them open, they all looked the same on the inside.  Each child received a piece of each apple....we looked....we smelled.....we tasted!  The red apple was "sweet".  The green apple was "sour".  The yellow apple was "really good".  We used adjectives to describe the apples.  Words like "juicy" and "yummy".....used in whole sentences.  Then we went around and each child got the chance to request another piece of their favorite apple.  Red was the clear favorite!  It was a great apple activity and the kids LOVED it!