Apple Sensory Activities for Kids

The smell of apples and apple pie spice is just one of those things that reminds you that fall is coming (if it isn’t already here, which it won’t be for quite some time where I live). If apple picking isn’t on your agenda this year, or you just want to bring some apple themed sensory activities into the home or classroom, read on.

Views from a Stepstool has a recipe for apple pie spice cloud dough, and now I’m wondering why I never made scented cloud dough when my daughter was playing with it. (The recipe we used had baby oil in it and I hated the smell, but she loved to play with it so I made it anyway. The things we do for our kids.)

Of course where there’s cloud dough, there needs to be play dough, too, right? Here’s a recipe for apple scented playdough from Preschool Play and Learn. Grab some apple playdough mats from Natural Beach Living to go along with it.

Make red and green “apple” stress balls out of balloons with this idea from Little Bins for Little Hands. You can even use them as a STEM activity by trying to stack them, a la Ten Apples Up On Top.

And while we’re talking about sensory things we’ve got to mention a few sensory bins, right? Try an easy and low-prep apple washing bin like this one from Busy Toddler, or make a fun apple orchard themed bin with this idea from I Heart Crafty Things.

Fun-a-Day has a great apple sensory bin made with dry chickpeas that are dyed different apple colors and uses apple pie spice to give you double sensory duty. This one is so cute! You can also use colored rice as the base if you don’t have chickpeas handy, like in this sensory bin from Life Over Cs.

Are you looking for the best sensory toys and activities for your child? Explore our comprehensive resources to enhance your child’s sensory play and development. Check out our curated Amazon Idea List featuring top-rated sensory toys and items, and don’t miss our expertly written articles on sensory activities. Start creating fun and educational sensory experiences today!

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Easy Sensory Activities for Valentine's Day

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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