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Home / Early Learning / Math / Apple Graphing Activity for Preschoolers

Apple Graphing Activity for Preschoolers

Shared by Mary Catherine 19 Comments

You definitely need to add this apple graphing activity to your next preschool apple theme!

Red apple prints and apple graph with text that reads apple graphing for preschoolers

Related: Weather Chart for Kids

Fall is the perfect time to teach an apple unit. Apples are generally harvested in late summer through early fall, making the topic timely. Plus, the kids are usually familiar with the concept of apples. If not, an apple theme helps introduce them.

Of course, not everyone enjoys teaching an apple theme. And that’s okay! Even if you don’t plan to teach the kids all about apples, this graphing idea is still something fun to try with the kids.

Table of Contents

  • Apple Graphing
    • Materials You’ll Need
    • Apple Taste Test
    • Apple Prints
    • Apple Tasting Graph
    • Learning with an Apple Graph
  • More Preschool Apple Activities
  • Apple Preschool Lesson Plans

Apple Graphing

I love how this apple activity combines art, science, and math skills into one engaging idea. You can even add a literacy focus after the graph’s done.

Materials You’ll Need

You don’t really need much for the full apple graphing experience! Here’s what we used (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):

  • Apples (red delicious, granny smith, yellow delicious)
  • Construction paper
  • Washable tempera paint (red, yellow, green)
  • Pocket chart
  • Glass beads (red, yellow, green)

If you want to make things even simpler, you can cut out a few of the materials we used. It’s completely up to you!

Apple Taste Test

Before you jump into the apple graphing, it’s time for an apple taste test with your students. You can’t have the graph without the data for it, right?

I love taste-testing apples with my preschoolers! It’s a great way to integrate real, meaningful learning in a fun way. The kids get to use all of their senses to explore the apples, which jump starts so much learning.

red, green, and yellow apples for preschool apple graphing

Related: Apple ABCs Free Printable

Have the children try green apples (granny smith), red apples (red delicious), and yellow apples (yellow delicious). Encourage them to try at least one bite of each. My preschoolers usually gobble up all of the apples after the taste test, so the leftovers make a great snack. Once everyone has tried the apples, take a quick poll to determine each child’s favorite apple.

If you’re working with just one or two kids, perhaps they could poll their friends and family members. This way, there will be more information to graph and learn from.

Apple Prints

After you and your students have tasted multiple apples, it’s time for apple art!

For this activity, have the children try their hand at painting with apples. Cut a red apple, a green apple, and a yellow apple in half. Those who like green apples paint the green half with green paint, then stamp it onto a white piece of paper. Have the other children do the same with the red and yellow apple halves.

red apple prints on white paper

Related: Apple Calendar Numbers

Once the apple prints are dry, cut the apple prints out. Some children might be interested in cutting their own prints out, too. Make sure each child has an apple print representative of their favorite apple!

Apple Tasting Graph

Now it’s time for the apple graphing!

Write color words on construction paper, then place the words on the top of a pocket chart (or a large piece of paper). Have each child come up and add their apple in the appropriate place. During this time, get the conversation started – “We have 6 red apples so far. I wonder how many more will be added. What do you think?”

Related: Math Activities for Preschoolers

Once the graph has been fully assembled, get the kiddos involved in analyzing it! My students are generally VERY happy to talk about the class apple graph. If that’s not the case with your children, ask some thoughtful questions. Some examples:

  • How many apples are under red/green/yellow? What does that mean?
  • Which kind of apples are the most liked? Which are liked the least? How do you know?
  • What else do you notice about our apple graph?
  • How many more apples are under red?

If you and the children aren’t up for painting, you can use glass jewels to graph your students’ favorite apples!

Learning with an Apple Graph

This apple graphing activity packs in a lot of learning for your students. Below are some of the points we touched upon with it:

  • Exploration of apples through the 5 senses
  • Descriptive vocabulary
  • Counting
  • Comparing more and less
  • One-to-one correspondence (especially if you add numbers to your graph)
  • “Reading” graphs and making observations
  • Vocabulary about comparisons (more, less, equal, same, most, least)

More Preschool Apple Activities

If you and your students got a kick out of our apple graphing idea, here are a few more things to try:

Apple Orchard to Table from The Educators’ Spin On It

How Apples Grow from Little Bins for Little Hands

Apple Fine and Gross Motor Game from No Stress Homeschooling

Counting Apples with Preschoolers from Life Over C’s

Apple Scented Play Dough Activity from The Preschool Toolbox

Alphabet Apple Stamping from Growing Book by Book

Apple Tree Letter Matching from Fun Learning for Kids

Applesauce Dough for Sensory Play from Still Playing School

How to Make Homemade Apple Pie from Powerful Mothering

Preschool Apple Science Experiment from Raising Lifelong Learners

Paper Plate Apple Craft from The Kennedy Adventures

Apple Preschool Lesson Plans

If your students are super into apples, be sure to check out Preschool Teacher 101’s fully-developed set of apple lesson plans. They’re already mapped out for you, with book lists, detailed lesson plans, related printables and more!

Apple Lesson Plans
buy now button with orange background and white text

Here are a few more done-for-you apple resources for your preschoolers. Click on the images below for more information.

Apple Ten Frame Task Cards
Apple math differentiated number sense activities cover image.
Apple Math Differentiated Number Sense
Apple Roll & Color Math

You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Originally published September 2014.

Apples, apple painting, and apple chart with text that reads favorite apple graph

Filed Under: Math Tagged With: #playfulpreschool, #TeachECE, Apples, Fall

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Painting with Apples: Apple Stamping Process Art »

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  1. Amanda says

    September 3, 2014 at 6:48 am

    I LOVE this stamp and graph activity. What an awesome hands on way to connect art with math!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 3, 2014 at 7:52 pm

      Thanks so much, Amanda! Of course, there’s lots of free art with the apples too. The kiddos love seeing everyone’s favorite apples.

      Reply
  2. Nicolette Roux says

    September 3, 2014 at 11:01 am

    love stamping! well my kids love anything that involves paint full stop.. lol

    we are going to have to try this this weekend for sure!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 3, 2014 at 7:52 pm

      Oh yes, most of my preschoolers (and my school-aged son) love painting with anything and everything!

      Reply
  3. Kim Vij @ The Educators' Spin On It says

    September 3, 2014 at 12:08 pm

    I love the fact that you have an Apple Pinterest Board! There are so many fun things to do with apples and one of my favorites its to graph them. Love the ideas for stamping the apples first. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 3, 2014 at 7:53 pm

      Thanks, Kim! We always have a blast with apples in preschool, so an Apple Pinterest board is a must for me! I’ve graphed apples in many different ways, but this was the first time we delved into stamping and then graphing.

      Reply
  4. Danielle @ Mom Inspired Life says

    September 3, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    I really love how you integrated math and art! I’m thinking I could do this with my preschooler at home if I gathered different amounts of each apple type and then we graphed those amounts. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 3, 2014 at 7:54 pm

      I think that’s a great idea, Danielle! Graphing and exploring apples always seems to be a hit with the little ones I work with.

      Reply
  5. Jodie @ Growing Book by Book says

    September 3, 2014 at 3:35 pm

    We haven’t done any graphing yet so I can’t wait to do this with my kids. Thanks for the ideas!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 3, 2014 at 7:55 pm

      Thanks, Jodie! Let me know how it goes when you do! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Sarah says

    September 3, 2014 at 4:07 pm

    We love math activities and hope to do some more graphing again! What a great idea to include different types of ideas and sensory play for graphing and counting! Very hands-on!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 3, 2014 at 7:56 pm

      Thanks, Sarah! We love hands-on (and mouths-on) activities around here! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Natasha says

    September 3, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    My preschooler loves anything involving paint so this would be right up her alley. I enjoy the visual of the counting the apples and grouping them.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 3, 2014 at 7:56 pm

      Thanks, Natasha! The kiddos were really into moving the apples all around the chart, too. We ended up sorting and counting and graphing multiple times.

      Reply
  8. The Preschool Toolbox says

    September 3, 2014 at 7:15 pm

    Love sorting, graphing, and playing with apples (and colors)! Fun post that teaches important skills! Good job!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 3, 2014 at 7:57 pm

      Thanks so much for the kind words!! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Colleen says

    September 3, 2014 at 9:31 pm

    Adorable apple stamps! We did that last week, but didn’t incorporate them into a graph…will have to try that this week. THanks for the great idea!

    Reply
  10. Alecia says

    September 4, 2014 at 5:08 pm

    This is GENIUS. I have just started graphing and never thought of incorporating stamping.

    Reply
  11. Kim says

    September 6, 2014 at 5:56 am

    I love this idea! We did apple prints a couple weeks ago, but it would totally be worth it to do it again for this fun activity!

    Reply
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My name is Mary Catherine, and I love to share meaningful {and fun} learning activities for kiddos! Feel free to browse and stay awhile!

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