Kids Frugal Fun-Hand Print Apple Tree

Each week I bring you a kids craft that is fun, educational, and frugal! September 26th is Johnny Appleseed Day so this week we are doing a fun apple themed craft.  Be sure to read and try the educational activities listed at the bottom.  Past Kids Frugal Funs can be found here.

Hand Print Apple Tree

Materials:
Green Finger Paint
White Paper
Red Paper or Red Finger Paint
Brown Paper
Glue
Markers

Directions:

1.  Paint your child’s hand green and have them put 3 hand prints on the paper.  Allow to dry.

2.  Cut a tree trunk out of brown paper (or draw one) coming down from the hands.
3.  Dip your child’s finger tip in red paint and have them paint “apples” in the tree (or cut apple shapes from red paper and glue in the green hands).

4.  Add branches or other details to your liking.
5.  You now have a memento of your child’s hand print + an apple tree to display during the Fall!

Educational Acitivities:

• Language Arts:  1.  Johnny Appleseed is a real man that became a legend by traveling across the country planting apple trees.  Share with your child his story and discuss that legends are stories that are traditionally true or based on someone “real” but that get exaggerated over time to contain both fact and fiction.  2.  Focus on the letter “A” all day with your child.  Discuss the sounds A makes, other words that start with that same sound, do a hunt around the house for items that start with A, hunt for “A” in newspapers, magazines, or books. 3.  Create a list of adjectives to describe apples-“Apples are…….”
• Science:  1.  Cut an apple in half and sprinkle one half with lemon and leave the other half plain.  Leave for a couple of hours and then revisit the halves.  Discuss with your child the differences.  2.  Plant an apple tree and discuss all the things a tree/plant need to survive (water, sunlight, etc).
• Math:    1.  Discuss with your child that apples have seeds. Have them make a prediction of how many seeds they will find in an apple. Cut the apple and count the seeds.  2.  Use a bag of apples and have your child put them in order of smallest to biggest.  3.  Cut apple in halves, fourths, and other ways to demonstrate fractions.
• History/Social Studies:  Discuss that Johnny Appleseed was a real person who was one American settlers who wanted to move west to settle across America. Talk about cardinal directions, explaining where “west” is on a map or in relation to where you live.