Apple ARTS & Critter Crafts
Learn how to make art and critter crafts from APPLES!
We share our school yards, backyards and neighborhoods with the critters of the natural world so it is only natural for children to wonder about them. Encourage this wonder by getting to know your local animal neighbors. Do you have bird, squirrel, chipmunk or deer neighbors? Share your apple bounty with them! Squirrel salads are a hit with the critters and the kids.
How to make Squirrel Salad
You will need:
apples
cutting board
dull knife for kids
melon-baller or small ice cream scoop
nuts, seeds & mushrooms collected from a hike
How to:
Select a nice big round apple
Use the melon baller or ice cream scoop & dig into the center of the apple, pulling out scoops and setting aside. Continue scooping out the apple until a hollow apple bowl is left
Cut the scooped pieces into small chunks using dull knives
Add the small chunks along with your collected seeds to the apple bowl
Take your squirrel salad out into the school yard, backyard or neighborhood woods and watch your critter neighbors delight in your efforts
This makes for a fun & wonderful learning opportunity as well:
Have the kids follow a recipe you create where they need to read the recipe and count the ingredients to create the critter salad. Working on fractions? Be sure to include fractions in your recipe.
2. Another creative option is to have students create recipes for each other to make. Depending on developmental level this can be pictures drawn or written recipe cards. Kids can write the recipes first and then take a collecting walk to be sure they have all the ingredients.
Have you told the wonderful story of the star inside the apple yet? Find it here
For a delicious follow up to the story make-
apple star stampers
You will need:
Apples
Knife (if it’s a sharp knife, then it is an adult job)
Paper
Paint
Lid or something to hold paint
What to do:
Cut your apple in half horizontally
Lie the apple star side down and cut into each side to make the handle of the star stamper
Provide the paint and paper and let the children's creativity take it from there
Other Creative Appletunities-
Cut other designs into the apples to make different shaped stampers
Tell a story using your apple stampers
Make wrapping paper using your stampers
Make fall cards to send to friends and relatives who can't get outside themselves
Practice patterns with apple stampers
