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

As if Diwali weren’t colorful and fun enough, The Festival of Lights: A Lift-the-flap Diwali Celebration by Namita Moolani Mehra, illustrated by Darshika Varm, makes it even more fun to read about with flaps and things to lift and pull to see more information or details in the illustrations.

The book is a story about a family getting ready for Diwali and what happens on the different days of the five-day celebration. There’s cleaning, shopping, crafting, food preparation and getting the home altar ready for the big day.

It covers decorating the outside of the house with rangoli, diyas and lanterns, buying sweets to share with family and friends, the sights and scents of the mandir (home temple), getting dressed up in new fancy clothes, the story of Diwali and celebrations with relatives.

Flaps (there are more than 140 in all) give you vocabulary words for different foods and definitions, as well as fun things like what’s inside the shopping basket or where the cat is hanging out. They also help illuminate the story of Diwali, which is the triumph of good over evil as Lord Ram defeated the demon Ravana to save his wife, Sita.

This pretty and colorful book helps kids understand what Diwali is and how it is celebrated, regardless of whether they practice it at home. This would be a nice book to keep in a classroom (it’s rated for kids ages 3-7) or to have at home to teach kids about Diwali even if it’s not something you celebrate. Where I live there are a lot of people from India so we are probably exposed to Diwali more than some other regions of America, but it’s a nice holiday to know about wherever you live.

Combine with the book Diwali and check out some fun lantern crafts and printables for kids to round out your experience.

About the book: 24 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail prices $22.99.

Have you read?

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