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….
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…
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…
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…
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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where did you get those wonderful scales?
Hi Barbara,
They came from Walmart about 3 years ago.
This is a really cool dramatic play opportunity! How long will you leave it up and available?
We left ours up for about 2 weeks then changed it out as the children started losing interest and we had moved on to other things as a class.
Very fun! Just noticing also…… Is that an oil pan on your tinker table? Did you spray paint it? Wondering if the paint will stay or get scratched easily….. Could be a great surface for so many activities!
Hi Eileen,
Yes, that is an oil pan and I did spray paint it. After awhile it gets a little scratched up but a good quality paint makes the difference. I just touch it up over the summer time. I use my oil pan for many different uses all throughout the school year.
Deborah
Hi Deborah,
I was wondering where you purchased the red scales the children used to weigh their apples. They are great!
Thanks,
Cheryl
I purchased them from Walmart about 3 years ago:)
Where did you get the scales? I love them!!!!
Where did you find the red weighing scales?
My set came from Walmart.
That is so fun! I love setting up little dramatic play stores etc. I love playing in them with the kids too because they are so hilarious. Thank you for sharing this simple fun center. We will be trying it!
Deborah,
Where did you find/purchase such cool scales to weigh the apples?
Ours came from Walmart!
This certainly is a wonderful way to jumpstart the schoolyear for your preschoolers. This way, they are able to interact with each other, play and learn new things. Thanks for sharing this!
Hello, Deborah!
I was just looking for a way to see if there was going to be a post card exchange this fall? I know there were deadlines last year, so if there is one, I didn’t want to miss any of them. It was such a great learning experience for my “littles” last year. If there’s anything I could do to help out, please let me know… thanks, Deborah! Hope your school year’s started out fabulously! =) Melissa Jetzer
Where, oh where, did you find those lovely scales? Brand name, please?
Where did you get the weighing scales? They are adorable!
Where did you get the red analog kitchen scale? I love them!
I got it from Walmart but it has been about 4 years ago:)
I am a lead Pre-K teacher at a wonderful little catholic school. I have enjoyed all of you posts and ideas. I do have one question…how do you find time throughout the school day to fit it all in? My current class consists of 14 students and I have one teacher’s aid. Our class starts at 8:15am and ends at 11:45pm. I feel like I never have enough time to introduce a new center/activity and give the children ample time to enjoy it. Do you have any helpful tips?
Sincerely,
Dpeterson
HI Danielle,
I too feel like I don’t have enough time to fit it all in so we sometimes do have to scale back a little and choose our priorities. One thing I do is split my day up into two parts. The morning is a bit more “guided” or “planned” where the after snack time is more open ended play. So for example, the apple market was set up in our outdoor classroom and left open for play all week as one center of play. The children had ample time over the week to play there where as the other centers may change. So it depends on the center and the goal and the space I set it up. Our outdoor center is much more open ended and explorative so in a sense, I preserve the time out there for just their chance to freely explore. I hope that makes sense!
Deborah