Make your apple unit more than just cute and turn it into an amazing experience instead!
Last week we did lots of apple exploring and I mean lots. I bought a bag of each color of apples (red, green, yellow, and even a set of Gala apples) for the children to explore all through the week. My students ate, investigated, smelled, cooked, and explored apples in many different ways. We transported apples from one place to another including our Apple Farmer’s Market dramatic play center….
Choose A Great Book
Before heading off to play in our Apple Market, we read the simple and brightly illustrated book “Apple Farmer Annie” by Monica Wellington. Annie takes us on her adventures of growing apples, picking apples, cooking apples, hauling apples to the Farmer’s Market, setting up an apple stand, selling apples, and then heading back home…
Bring the Book to Life
Both of our classes spent time at the Apple Market and both the younger and older children equally loved playing in the apple market center. I chose to set up the apple farmer’s market center in our outdoor classroom on the “tinker table.” I covered the table with a bright red table cloth, added calculators, pencils, scales, a money drawer, pretend money, and apples…
Set Up an Apple Market
Now that we had read about Annie and discussed some of the things Annie did with her apples, the children were ready to visit our apple market too!…
All week long the children bought and sold apples to each other…
The children came and went from the Apple Market as they wished. Some would come and go, others would stay for a long time…
The children explored the scales and calculators or just spent time counting money…
The children talked with each other, made their own rules for play, took food orders, and wrote down lists or numbers…
Sometimes the apple market was very busy…
And other times, business was a little slow…
Why We Love the Apple Market
There was always something to do at the apple market all week long and since my students are still learning about each other, it was a wonderful way to invite them to talk to each other and cooperate with each other…
What a wonderful beginning we are already having to our preschool year!
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