Storytime: Apples

There are so many fun things to do with the theme of apples! I may have tried to do all of them. It was fun, but there was a lot to keep track of – puppets, egg shakers, recorded music (so setting up speakers), and a craft that involved paint and real fruit. Oh, and apple slices to sample at the end!

You can find other versions of this theme from 2020 and 2025.

Early Literacy Tip: As you and your child go about your day, highlight the five senses and talk about the textures, the size, color, sounds, smells, and tastes of the things around you. These observations will be the basis for later exploration and classifying that will lead to sorting and problem solving skills. These are skills that will help your child later understand what they read.

Welcome Song: Hello, Friends* (BB) (TB) (FT)**

Warm Up Song: Wake Up, Feet* (BB) (TB) (FT)
This is a repeated song that everyone seems to enjoy. I always begin and end with feet and tummies, but find two other body parts to wiggle in the middle. This week was arms and ears.

Lifting Rhyme: Toast in the Toaster* (BB)

Intro: Who likes apples? I do! Apples are ripe and fresh right now, so let’s celebrate this delicious fruit! Where do apples come from? Apples grow from little seeds into tall apple trees!

Action Song: A Little Apple Seed (BB) (TB) (FT)
(tune of Itsy Bitsy Spider)
Once a little apple seed was planted in the ground (pinch finger together like a small seed)
Down came the rain drops falling all around (fingers wiggle downward)
Out came the big sun bright as bright could be (join hands in circle above head)
And the little apple seed grew up to be an apple tree (start with the pinch, then grow arms out)
Source: Madelyn’s Library Programming

Now that there’s a tree, let’s pretend to be that tree!
Song: Great Big Apple Tree (BB)
(tune of Frère Jacques)
Great big apple tree, great big apple tree (extend baby’s arms)
Standing tall, standing tall, (lift baby up)
Moving your branches, when the wind blows (sway arms)
Apples fall! Apples fall! (bring baby’s arms down)
Source: Pasadena (CA) Public Library blog

Transition: If You’re Ready for a Story* (BB) (TB) (FT)

Okay, so this book only mentions apples on the first page, but it’s super cute and one of the few apple books my library had that worked best for babies. I was surprised at how many have such big chunks of text!
Read: Applesauce is Fun to Wear by Nancy Raines Day & Jane Massey (BB)

Read: All for Pie, Pie for All by David Martin & Valeri Gorbachev (TB) (FT)

Time to go for a ride to the apple orchard!
Bounce Song: A Smooth Road (BB)**

Have you ever been apple picking? Let’s pretend that we are going to pick some apples.
Rhyme: Way Up High in the Apple Tree (BB) (TB) (FT)
Way up high in the apple tree (stretch arms up high)
Two red apples smiled at me (hold up two fists & wiggle them)
I shook that tree as hard as I could (make a shaking motion)
Down came the apples… (fists fall down)
And mmm, they were good! (smile and rub tummy)
Source: traditional

Word Exercise: Using Our Five Senses (TB)
What words can we use to describe apples using our senses? I could sense the group getting a little wiggly, so I only asked for one word for each sense (the picture below was from an earlier program). I wanted to get it in since I’d tied it to our Early Lit tip today – and it was nice to see some of the grownups nodding in understanding when I explained that using descriptive language helps them learn to sort and classify objects as well as giving them a basis in reading comprehension. I borrowed this activity from Literary Hoots

The apple flannel set I made for the last library I worked for was left there, so I redid it (off the clock this time so it’s mine, all mine!) This time I tried to have the apples be more and more eaten up as we count up (also indicated by the number of seeds each has. I had a set of farm animal puppets, so I used the duck, pig, horse, and cow, then my bear cub puppet to end – that came as a fun surprise! Grr!
Flannel Rhyme: Five Little Apples (TB) (FT)
Five little apples up in a tree
The farmer wasn’t looking,
So guess who came to eat?
Quack, quack!
A duck! Munch munch munch!
(count down, using available animal puppets, or choose animals you like to “munch” on your five fingers as the apples)
Source: Storytime Katie

We passed out egg shakers – I usually do one on-theme song with props and two just for fun.
Shaker Rhyme: Egg Shakers Up (BB) (TB) (FT)
Egg shakers up, egg shakers down
Egg shakers dancing all around the town
Dance them on your shoulders, Dance them on your head
Dance them on your knees, And tuck them into bed!
Source: Jbrary

I like this jazzy tune, even if she does talk about bananas in the second and third verses.
Recorded Shaker Song: Shake Your Apples
I like to eat my apples, red and yellow too
And if you give me apples green,
I’ll make an apple pie for you

Come on and shake, shake, shake your apples
Shake ‘em way up high
Shake ‘em to the left and shake ‘em to the right
Let’s have a little apple pie
Source: Nancy Stewart

I told them I was imagining an “apple pie milkshake” – I think that sounds amazing.
Shaker Song: The Milkshake Song
You take a little milk – pour some milk!
And you take a little cream – pour some cream!
You stir it all up, You shake it and you’ll sing…

Milkshake, milkshake shake it up, shake it up!
Milkshake, milkshake shake it all up!
Milkshake, milkshake shake it up, shake it up!
Milkshake, milkshake shake it all up!
Source: Old Town School of Folk Music, from the album Songs for Wiggleworms via Jbrary

Action Song: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!* (BB) (TB) (FT)

Craft: Paper Plate Apple Pie
Each table had a brown dot marker, a plate with red paint, and a plate with green paint, blank paper plates, and halved apples to use as stamps. For an additional sensory element, I had a small container of cinnamon to sprinkle on the wet paint. This went over great and I was especially impressed with how well the adults cleaned up after – the tables were basically spotless, which is NOT what I was expecting, but lovely! On their way out, I also had thinly sliced apples available to sample. I’d read that this is the best way to serve apples to very little children to avoid a choking hazard.
Source: Literary Hoots

Play Time
The babies have two laundry baskets of baby toys – rattles and cars, sorters and stackers, toy phones and spinners. For the older kids, I have foam blocks, soft food toys, puzzles, and a few other items that are a little more sophisticated than the baby toys. For Family Time, I gauge the overall age of the group and put out what seems right for them. We play for 5-10 minutes at the most, then I ring the bell and ask the kids to help me clean up. I think the clean up bit is good practice for them!

Goodbye Song: See You Later Alligator* (BB) (TB) (FT)

Goodbye Rhyme: Tickle the Stars* (BB) (TB) (FT)

Other books I had available for families to browse (and may work for you on this theme)
Tap the Magic Tree – Christie Matheson
Apple Picking Day – Candice Ransom & Erika Meza
Orange Pear Apple Bear – Emily Gravett
Apples and Pumpkins – Anne Rockwell & Lizzy Rockwell
One Green Apple – Eve Bunting & Ted Lewin
Apple Farmer Annie – Monica Wellington
Biscuit and the Great Fall Day – Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Apples, Apples, Everywhere – Robin Koontz & Nadine Takvorian
Apples for Little Fox – Ekaterina Trukhan

This storytime was presented in-person on 9/19, 9/20, & 9/21/22.

Storytime Handout:

*Lyrics to these songs can be found on the Repeated Songs & Rhymes page.

**These symbols indicate the program sessions I used the activities for:
(BB) Book Babies, ages 0-2
(TB) Teddy Bears, ages 2-3.5
(FT) Family Time, ages 0-3.5