Apple Investigation – Exploring Apples Through Art

Here in Ohio fall is in full swing which means that it is time for our apple investigation! Picking a theme helps to create meaningful play experiences. We spent some time over the weekend at the apple orchard so it only made sense to begin our apple investigation!

Materials Needed for Apple Investigation

The materials needed for this investigation are pretty basic.

  • Apples
  • Paper
  • Pencils
  • Watercolors
  • Apple Book- Choose an apple book that your children can connect to. We read, “Apple Picking Day” by Candice Ransom.

Apple Lesson

Begin this lesson by making connections to apples. Here are some questions you can ask if you need:

  • Have you ever been to an apple orchard?
  • What do you know about apples?
  • What color are apples?
  • How do apples taste?
  • Do you like to eat apples?

These are just a few questions but it will get your child(ren) thinking. Following this, introduce the book. It helps to give the kids just a little info about the book (that is called a hook) to get them to want to hear it! Then, read the book. Make sure you are excited and stop to ask questions, answer questions, or make observations about the book with your child(ren). After you are finished reading the book, invite your kids to make connections to the book. An example would be, “This book made me think about ____.”

After you are finished with the book, it is time for the fun part! Present your children with several varieties of apples and ask them what they notice. Notice may be a new vocabulary word to some. My son didn’t know so my daughter explained it. If you want, you can write down what your children notice OR if they are more advanced, they can write down what they notice. We noticed that when you look close, apples are not usually just one solid color. The red apples had lines of yellow and little specks. The green apples had tiny spots too! We noticed that some apples had stems and leaves while others just had holes.

When we were finished noticing, the kids were given pencils, paper, paint sets, and apples and told to document what they noticed with art. It was very neat to see their interpretations!

apple investigation

apple investigation

Apple Investigation

Concepts Taught Through Our Apple Investigation

  • Letter/Sound correspondence- the kids told me the initial sound when writing the words for our noticings
  • Vocabulary- color words, parts of the apple
  • Color Mixing- my son wanted to make different colors of red and green so he experimented
  • Making connections when reading
  • Art appreciation
  • Fine motor skills

Who Can Do This Apple Investigation?

This activity is perfect for classroom teachers, intervention specialists, tutors, and homeschool parents! This is a great way to art into your lessons!

Other Apple Activities

Check out this post about some fine motor activities and grab my APPLE fine motor FREEBIE!!

Thanks for reading!!

Stephanie