A is for Apple

I get a little excited when the school year starts.  Not because my kids are going back to school but because it provides a little more structure.  My little one is now ready to start preschool and I'm excited to put a bigger emphasis on that each week.  We'll be starting next week but in the mean time I thought some of you might be getting ready as well. A for Apples is a pretty common  and fun theme.  Below is an old post from when my older girls were little.  We'll be revisiting this theme in a couple of weeks but this might get you started.

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This week we work on practicing the letter A. Here are some of our fun projects we did.

Apple Shakers (idea here). It was a real quick and fun activity that both girls enjoyed. I had red plates and Aubrey added "seeds" (black beans), we taped on a stem and leaf, then taped another red plate on top.







Then Shake!!!!
A apple tree and song found at Katie's Nesting Spot. Aubrey cut out strips of green paper, glued it on a tree I drew, I then cut around it, I also cut out a capital A. Aubrey then glued the tree top and A to a piece of paper to create an apple tree. Here is the fun song we sang (great to practice numbers)

Five Red Apples in an Apple Tree FingerplayFive red apples hanging in a tree (hold up five fingers)
The juciest apples you ever did see.
The wind came along and gave an angry frown (flutter fingers)
And one little apple came tumbling down. (hold up five fingers and bring one down)
Continue counting down with: Four red apples...etc


Apple Printing (idea found here) This was a really fun activity that Aubrey wanted to do for a long time. I sliced an apple in half. We used one color per half. Just dip apple in paint and stamp on paper.




Don't they look cool!a apple with worm- I wanted Aubrey to recognize lowercase a also so I came up with this little activity (Looked a lot cuter in my head but oh well). I cut out 2 lowercase "a"s, stems, leaves, and worms. Aubrey glued it all together and colored the worm. After I thought it was missing something so we added glitter. It was a big hit.Popsicle stick activity (idea found on Totally Tots)- I gave Aubrey a bunch of Popsicle sticks and showed her how to make the letter A. We then moved one stick down to make a triangle. This was her favorite activity. We practiced with many different letters, numbers, and shapes. By the end of the week I asked her to make the letter A (with out showing her) and she was able to. She was so proud of herself.

Additional Activities -Writing her name (sheet protector for her to practice with), Apple Puzzle (also on Totally Tots) probably to hard but she still liked it, Apple Book (found here), Letter tracer (here) again put in a sheet protector so we can reuse it, A template (here) used to color, A book (I can't find it but I know it is from this site).