Apple Life Cycle Sequencing

From Seed to Apple
Talk about what plants need to help them grow. Explain to children that all seeds and plants need sun, water, air, nutrients, and soil in order to grow. After an apple seed is planted, it takes a few weeks before it will sprout. Then the roots grow down into the soil. The stem grows upward and toward the light and leaves begin to develop on the stem. Apple trees do not bear fruit until they are 5–8 years old. Then fragrant white blossoms appear in the spring. The flowers are pollinated by bees and other insects. When the blossoms fall off, small baby apples begin to grow in their place. Only flowers that have been pollinated can grow into apples. By late summer the apples are fully grown and ripe. The apples are handpicked, washed, and stored.

Grade/Age Range: Preschool, 3-5 years old

Book: How Do Apples Grow?

Focus Skills:

Sequencing
Plant Life Cycles
Response to Literature
Vocabulary Development
Fine Motor

Begin this activity by reading a book about the life cycle of an apple to the whole group. After a short discussion about what children learned from the text, use the Apple Sequence Cards from the KidsSoup library to review each phase of the apple life cycle.

Preschool Activities: Media Root	Preschool Activities: Media Root
From Seed to Apple Sequencing Cards	My Apple Book Craft
Preschool Activities: Media Root
FREE: From Seed to Apple Sequencing Cards b/w

Working in smaller groups, give each child his/her own set of Apple Sequence Cards to cut out.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Once children have cut the cards apart, have them glue their cards in order on strips of construction paper. Provide apple life cycle books for the children to reference. In addition, you can choose to either help the children find the correct order and make the activity a learning center, or you can use the activity as an assessment during which children complete the activity with few to no cues.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Apple Rhyme:

Eat an apple,
Save the core.
Plant the seeds,
And grow some more.
(Author Unknown)

Apple Movement and Rhyme:

Way up high in an apple tree.
Two red apples smiled at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could.
Down came the apples! Mmmmmm they were good!

Apple Game

Play our Apple Picking Game Photo by My Montessori Journey

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Apple Craft

Featured apple craft from 4 Crazy Kings Blog

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Extend the activity by visiting a local apple orchard the following day where children can experience picking their own apples and bringing them back to school to study further.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Apple theme activities, crafts, and games available on KidsSoup.com

Follow up by introducing materials related to the pumpkin life cycle, also available in the KidsSoup library. Even though pumpkins are often thought of as vegetables, they're actually fruits, just like apples. Ask children how this could be. What do apples and pumpkins have in common? Children can use their apple sequences and pumpkin life cycle projects to compare and contrast these two types of fruits and how they grow.

Submitted by KidsSoup member Beth Steward