Apple Sensory Play Ideas

Through the years I’ve shared a lot of different fall themed activities, including pumpkin sensory activities, pumpkin STEM and apple STEM. If all of that isn’t enough, here are some apple themed sensory ideas for the classroom or at home.

Doughs of all kinds are classic sensory material for kids of all ages, and there are lots of options when it comes to adding apple. You can go with the classic no-cook apply playdough from Kindergarten Worksheets and Games, which uses conditioner to make a soft a fluffy play material.

Or try the apple cinnamon play dough from Play to Learn Preschool, which is more of a classic dough consistency and perfect for making play pies and cookies. And you can make cloud dough/moon sand with an apple pie twist with this recipe from Little Bins for Little Hands. They also have a fun recipe for applesauce oobleck that would be a lot of fun to make and play with.

Any of these would be great as part of a sensory bin, but another fun thing to try is dried chickpeas dyed different colors to look like apples. It’s easy to do and you can use them year after year. Get the tutorial from Active Littles. Or you could use oatmeal (Fantastic Fun and Learning) or rice (Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails) as a base for your bin.

For very little kids, you might want to do a painting project and sensory experience in one with a sensory painting bag. This one from Views from a Stepstool has an apple theme, and little ones will love squishing the paint around.

Older kids can paint and do printmaking with apples, whether whole apples, halves or slices. Check out the ideas at Fun-A-Day to get started.

Apple-themed snacks can round out a day of apple sensory play. If kids can have peanut butter, this can be as simple as apple slices with peanut butter and different toppings like sprinkles, granola or chocolate chips. Or cut the apple into discs to make apple “doughnuts” like these from Beyond Cereal. Other easy options include baked cinnamon apple chips (Carrie’s Experimental Kitchen) or no-bake cinnamon apples (The Honour System).

Easy Apple Crafts for Kids

Apple STEM Activities for Back to School

Apple Tree Math Activity

Apple Themed Cutting Practice

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Playdough Learning Activities

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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