Preschool Apple Spelling Game

by Dr. Carrie Wells on August 23rd, 2018 | No Comments »

Can you believe it's almost Fall already? When I think of Fall, I dream of apple orchards and pumpkin vines and leaves changing colors. It's probably because I live in South Florida, where I do not actually get a chance to experience these things -- but it doesn't stop me from teaching my children about the changing of the seasons!

One of my favorite Fall themes is apples. There are so many things these learning activities can teach.

Preschool Apple Spelling Games Target Many Skills

Spelling - Children will spell sight words.
Matching - Children will match lowercase letters on index card to uppercase letters on apples.
Writing - Children will practice writing uppercase letters.
Sight Word Identification - Children will read the sight words on cards.
Fine Motor Skills - Children will use a functional grasp to manipulate tongs/tweezers.
Visual-Perceptual Skills - Children will scan many items to find the correct match.

Preschool Apple Spelling Game

Materials for Preschool Apple Games:

Red construction paper
Black marker
Filler material, such as shredded paper or hay
Large basket
Scissors
Plain index cards
Large tweezers or tongs

Directions for Preschool Apple Games:

Write Letters to create your apple spelling game

Creating Your Apple Letters for Preschool Learning Games

Begin by cutting out 26 apples from the red construction paper. Have your child write one uppercase letter of the alphabet on each apple, A through Z.

Apple Letters for fall learning activities

Place the letters and the filler material (shredded paper or hay) into the large basket and toss together so that the apples are partially hidden.

Apple Basket with apple letters for learning

Sight Word Practice With Your Apple Letters

Write sight words using lowercase letters on the plain index cards. These can be seasonal words, spelling words, words the child has already mastered reading independently, etc.

Look for Letters in your apple basket - preschool learning game

Have the child select a sight word from the index cards. Using the large tweezers or tongs, the child will "dig" through the basket to find the letters to spell the given sight word.

Find Letters for Sight Word Matching

Learning to match letters and create sight words is an important foundation to reading skills for preschoolers.

Match Apple Letters to Sight Words

Variations for different ages, abilities, and subject areas:

For children who are just learning letters, the index card can have just a single letter on there to match.
For older children, write words on the apples. Have the children build sentences by combining different apples.
Write definitions on the index cards and have children find the corresponding words on the apples.
Create a math matching game with numbers on some of the apples and the corresponding number of seeds on the other apples. The child will pick a number and find the matching apple with seeds.
Write simple math sentences (addition, subtraction) on index cards. Children will find the correct answers from the numbers written on the apples.

What fun learning activities do you have planned for Fall?

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Dr. Carrie Wells

Dr. Carrie Wells is a college instructor, blogger, and work-at-home mother to two young children, Lydia (age 5) and Bryce (age 3). Carrie graduated from the University of Florida in 2001 with a Bachelor’s degree in elementary education and in 2002 with a Master’s degree in special education. After teaching children ages 3 – 21 with varying abilities for several years, she completed her Doctorate in special education in 2008 from Nova Southeastern University. In March 2010, Carrie began writing Huppie Mama, a lifestyle blog focusing on family, food, fun, fashion, and fitness.