Apple Stamping – a Simple Preschool Fall Craft

Apple stamping (and turning the stamps into Apple People) is a simple, engaging and fun activity for preschoolers, toddlers and young children. Bonus: it’s low prep, too!

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It’s that time of year – apples, pumpkins, orchards, and all the fall things! Camden is closing in on three years old this year, so he’s interested in coloring and painting and crafts. It’s so much fun because I can plan all these simple fall crafts and sensory bins and play trays, and he is so into it!

I grabbed a few apples the other day to do this easy apple stamping / apple people craft. I did NOT get these apples from the orchard – I knew we weren’t eating them, so the cheaper the better!

Here’s the simple rundown on this craft:

Apple Stamping – What You Need

You’ll want a few cheap apples, some washable tempera paint (in whatever colors you want – we did fall colors, but the sky’s the limit!), googly eyes and paper. You’ll also want a tablecloth to do the craft on, and some paper plates or paint trays to put the paint in.

Let’s Get Stamping!

First, cut the apples in half from top to bottom. Remove the stem and scrape out the apple seeds.

Bonus: Let the apple seeds dry and then plant them and watch them sprout!

Lay out the tablecloth on the floor or table (we did this outside on a non-windy day). Put plates with paint out – I put 2 colors on each paper plate, so they were spaced pretty far apart.

Next, have kids press an apple half into one color of paint. Then press it onto the paper and lift it up gently. You can use one apple half for each kid and let them mix colors or you can use one apple half for each color, which is what I did.

Toward the end, though, it was fun to let Cam put the apple in multiple colors of paint and make some swirled prints.

When your child is done making apple prints, give him some googly eyes and let him press them into the wet paint.

At first, I tried to make sure Cam only put 2 eyes on each apple. And then I realized – these are apples (they don’t actually have eyes) and this is for fun – who cares how many eyes each apple has?? Some of the apples got 1 eye or no eyes or 3 eyes!

Extension Activities for Apple Stamping

Apple Books

Before we do a craft, I try to lead it with a book. We read Apple Trouble by Ragnhild Scamell (I originally bought it from a Scholastic book order), because Camden loves this book about a little hedgehog who gets an apple stuck on her back. But there are SO MANY fun apple-themed picture books out there!

In fact, I’ve got a whole list of apple-themed picture books for you right now!

Growing Apple Seeds

I mentioned this earlier, but since you’re scraping the seeds out of the apple, you can learn about the life cycle of an apple and plant the seeds to watch them grow!

Field Trip to the Orchard

Pair this activity with a trip to the apple orchard and go pick apples together!

Apple Baking

Extend the idea of cutting apples by baking with them. This Apple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Bread is easy for kids to help with and lets them practice their apple chopping skills. Or you could make apple butter or No Peel Crockpot Cinnamon Apples, too! Camden loves helping me make all of these!

Apple Tossing

Take a bedsheet and a few apples outside. Have everyone hold a corner or side of the bedsheet. Set an apple in the middle of the bedsheet. Work together to see how far you can use the bedsheet to fling the apple.

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