USING APPLES FOR SCIENCE & ART
Apple facts for kids.
— By Julie Hodos on March 6, 2024; Updated on April 8, 2025.
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Where do apples come from? What is an apple? Why are the seeds at the very center? By cutting open an apple, a whole world of possibilities and endless questions can arise for a child. If you’re curious how to lead them down this road of discovery, and effortlessly teach apple facts for kids then this is the lesson for you. Be sure to check out the painting with apples after the science portion because your child will not want to miss making a picture to display on the fridge. Also, these activities are a part of an entire week’s worth of lessons all centered around the theme Aa is for Apple.
Table of Contents
Purposeful teaching of apple facts for kids.
Books about apples.
Books like Apples by Gail Gibbons and Apple Cider Making Days by Ann Purmell are excellent educational options. Additionally, Autumn is for Apples by Michelle Knudson is perfect for 3-5 year old’s but is difficult to come by. Try your local library before giving up on this one though!
Allow the age of your child to guide the discussion.
How in depth you take this activity can depend on the age of your child and their interest level. For younger children, sticking to naming the basic parts of an apple will be enough. Whereas, with older kids they may have more questions and you can dive further into apple facts for kids. If you’re not sure of the answer to a question, look it up! Your child will observe a valuable life lesson. In short, we seek and search for answers to questions we do not know.
To learn more about an apple’s life cycle, stay tuned. A post is coming with a free printable included, poetry, and more questions to guide discussion!
Apple facts for kids.
12 Interesting apple facts for kids.
- Firstly, apples grow on trees, which can live for over 100 years!
- Secondly, there are over 7,500 different types of apples, like Red Delicious and Granny Smith.
- Apples were first grown thousands of years ago in Asia and Europe—way before dinosaurs!
- An apple is about 25% air, which is why it floats in water.
- Apples are related to roses—they’re part of the same plant family.
- The biggest apple ever picked weighed as much as a small dog—about 4 pounds!
- Apples are packed with fiber, which helps keep your tummy happy.
- Johnny Appleseed was a real person who planted apple trees across America. You can read more about him with this book written by Steve Kellogg.
- It takes about 36 apples to make one gallon of apple juice.
- Apples ripen faster if you keep them near bananas!
- The smallest apple, called a crabapple, is about the size of a cherry.
- Lastly, in colonial America, apples were called “winter bananas” or “melt-in-the-mouths”!
Steps to dissecting an apple with your child.
Firstly, begin by cutting the apple in half. Ask your child if they know where the stem is and the seeds are. Then prompt them by pointing to a part and asking them What is that called? Each of my boys, at the age of three, can usually find and name the stem and the seeds but that’s all. I helped them name the rest.
The important parts are the stem, skin, flesh or pulp, core, and seeds.
If their interest is still engaged, ask them to count the seeds. Since you probably have at least a couple apples for the art at the end of the lesson, you can now ask them if they think all apples have the same number of seeds and then proceed to cut open a second apple. Have them count and compare.
Allow time for them to ask questions or prompt them with some of your own extension questions, such as what is your favorite food that uses apples? or something a bit more complicated, why do apples have seeds? Here are 8 extension questions to help get your started. In addition, you can download this along with the labeled parts of an apple printable at the end.
8 Apple Dissecting Extension Questions
Guide your child on their learning journey.
- Firstly, what colors do apples come in?
- Secondly, what is your favorite food with apples in it?
- What does the stem do?
- Why do apples have seeds?
- How many seeds are in each apple?
- Why are the seeds on the very inside of an apple?
- Can you eat every part of an apple? Is every part tasty?
- Lastly, how does an apple tree look different throughout the year? Summer, fall, winter, and spring?
Asking for your child’s favorite way to eat an apple is a fun way to plan time in the kitchen later in the week.
Art: use apples in a playful and artistic way.
After you are finished dissecting your apples you can now prepare the paint. When I do this activity with my boys I enjoy using blue construction paper (the sky) with red, green, and yellow tempera paint (different apple variety colors).
Place each paint on the same plate. Your child’s natural mixing of the colors makes this very pretty. Demonstrate painting onto the apple’s flesh with a paintbrush. I’ve found this is better than dipping the apple in the paint because it keeps the paint from overwhelming the stamping process. Once the flesh of the apple is covered, show your child how to place it on top of their paper and lift off. Leaving the imprint of a half of an apple.
Help them with the amount of paint and lifting the apple half off but allow them to experiment with placement, different apple halves and quarters, colors, etc.
My boys usually stamp 2-3 papers and then we hang them on our wall to dry and display.
Further apple facts for kids.
I love combining these two activities together because science and art are already naturally connected. We learn about something we encounter on a regular basis, ask questions about it, and then use it in a unique and artistic way. And that’s only the beginning! If you’d like to combine this activity with an entire week’s worth of lessons that includes more activities, coloring pages, and books that are all about apples click here, Aa is for Apple.
Click here for the entire Letter of the Week curriculum for preschoolers.
To download the free printable which includes extension questions to ask your child, as well as labeling for older kids and a puzzle for younger kids. Sign up for the newsletter below.
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