Are you looking for a fun theme to use in your first grade classroom this fall? Apples are always a hit! In this post, I’m going to share some of my favorite apple activities for first grade. These engaging activities will help students in first grade (and even kindergarten) practice a variety of important skills with a fun seasonal twist!
10 Apple Activities for First Grade
These apple activities are great stand-alone activities for your fall lesson plans but they can also be used as a cohesive first grade apple unit. Either way, your students will love learning more about apples as they practice literacy, math, and even fine motor skills. Themed learning activities are perfect for increasing engagement and motivation in the classroom!
1. Nonfiction Text and Anchor Chart
You can start your apple unit by helping your students learn all about apples. Reading nonfiction books together as a class is a great way for students to learn more about this fruit. As you read through these apple books together, you can create an anchor chart to help students document facts about apples.
You can write down things apples have, adjectives to describe apples, and things you can make with apples on a “Have, Are, Make” chart. You can continue to add to this anchor chart as you proceed through the apple unit.
2. Apple Printable Activities
The anchor chart you create together as a class will help students as they complete a variety of printable activities. For example, students can create their own “Have, Are, Make” graphic organizers to document facts about apples.
The graphic organizer will come in handy as students complete their own diagram of the parts of an apple. Students can practice their labeling skills as they write the apple terms in the correct spaces
3. Apple Life Cycle
Another important addition to any apple unit is discussion of the apple life cycle. You can help students understand where apples come from by reading nonfiction text and discussing the vocabulary.
After learning about the life cycle, students can complete their own diagrams. They can cut out each stage of apple growth and attach it to the paper in the correct sequence.
4. Apple Poem
You can reinforce what students have been learning about the apple life cycle with an engaging Apple Core poem. The rhythm of the text will encourage students to remember the vocabulary as well as the sequence of the apple life cycle.
5. Apple Core Sequencing
Sequencing and retelling are important comprehension skills that will also help students with oral language skills as well as writing. Using pictures that correspond to the poem, students can practice their sequencing skills as they match each picture to the correct line from the poem.
6. My Favorite Apple Graphing
One benefit of using themed units in first grade is that students can apply the skills they’re learning to real-life situations. In this case, students can have a taste test of yellow, red, and green apples, then vote on their favorite variety.
You can collect the data by making tally marks, then count the final number of votes for each type of apple. With this data, students can analyze which had the most votes and which had the fewest votes. They can also practice representing the data in different ways, like a bar chart or picture graph.
7. Apple Glyph
Since an apple unit is so fun for the back-to-school season, it can be helpful to add a get-to-know-you activity to your lesson plans. This apple glyph activity is a great option! Students will use a key to create an apple craft that represents them.
The color of the apple shows which apple they like best, the color of the worm represents if they liked eating the apple skin or not, and the number of leaves corresponds to whether they like apple juice or applesauce better. This is a great way to build community and the final crafts are perfect for a back-to-school bulletin board!
8. Apple Seasons Craft
Another craft that your students will love is this apple seasons activity! Students will decorate four different trees to represent what an apple tree looks like during the four months of the year.
This activity gives them a chance to review what they’ve been learning about the apple life cycle. You could even revisit some of the nonfiction books from earlier in the unit. This can give them a good point of reference as they create the apple seasons craft.
9. “Who Took the Apples?” Reader
This fun twist on “Who Took the Cookies?” is a great way to incorporate literacy skills into your apple unit. This colorful reader allows students to put their phonics skills to work as they decode the text in the story. Since the reader is printable, students could even take home a copy of the story for additional practice.
10. Apple Inferencing Activity
The “Who Took the Apples?” reader provides a great opportunity to practice the skill of making inferences. Students can use clues from the text and illustrations to infer who they think took the apples. They can also cite evidence from the text to support their inference. Depending on the needs of your students, they can draw and/or write their inferences.
Printable Apple Unit for First Grade
All of the apple activities in this post (and more!) are included in one easy-to-download resource. This All About Apples unit is full of engaging apple activities that help students practice important literacy and math skills while also learning about the life cycle of an apple. While I’ve shared how these activities can be used in first grade, they can be a great fit for kindergarten classrooms, as well.
If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this first grade apple unit, you can find it in my TPT store.
Save These First Grade Apple Activities
Be sure to save this post so you can find these apple activities later! Just add the pin below to your favorite teaching board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these activity ideas when you’re planning an apple unit for your first graders!
