Play: Messy Apple Play + Book Activity

I normally try and keep messy activities for the summer. It's easy to go outside, make a mess, and then use the hose for cleaning surfaces, supplies, and children. So let that be a warning to you as you read on.

Have your children ever bobbed for apples?

When's the last time YOU bobbed for apples?

I'm serious. Here's a challenge to throw a few apples in the baby pool or bucket or whatever and go for it! The kids will love that you're being totally silly with them, and you'll probably have fun too.

Ada was a little too small for this one, so I set her up with a big plastic serving platter and a bunch of applesauce and let her go at it! I also added in some kitchen items to make it a little more interesting. It did make a big mess.... but it was a great sensory experience for her and she got a kick out of it!

We also read Ten Apples Up on Top, by Dr. Suess. We have the board book version which is much shorter than the full-length. This happens to be Ada's favorite book. We read it several times a day. I'm pretty sure both Asante and I can both recite it from memory.

After reading, we did an activity based on one that we first did during a storytime at our local library. It was back in the fall, so I wondered if they would even remember it. They did, but they liked the twist I put on it.

We used apple halves to stamp ten apples up on top of pictures of themselves. At the library it was just a generic boy or girl picture, so I thought it'd be funnier if it was actually them. Of course, if you didn't want to mess with the paint, you could just cut out apples from red/green/yellow paper, or get some scrapbook apple stickers.

 

I leave you with a fun video of the book. Hope you and your kids enjoy it!

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