Even though the weather is in the high 90’s I’m dreaming of fall! It’s September so that means back to school for many kiddos. Even though my class runs year round, September always means back to structured learning and less “fun in the sun” style. We love doing things crafts with the kiddos and I look forward to fall art every year. Kids love creating things and getting messy. Art is not only fun but it helps foster creativity and master fine motor skills!

We love using apples as a theme for our lessons and projects in September! There is something about using apples that just puts everyone in the “back to school” mood. Apples make great science lessons and you can even use them in counting games. We’ve done a lot of different projects with apples in the past but one of my favorites is Fingerprint Apple Trees!

Fingerprint Apple Trees are easy and perfect for toddlers. It’s very easy to set up as well which is great for busy parents. I’ve found a great “hack” for making it even easier! You can find a pattern for the base of your tree (or create a simple easy one) and copy it! I have ten of these to make so we love having them look as similar as possible to avoid disagreements. Toddlers and preschoolers will notice if one is different and I love keeping the debates to a minimum while we’re working on a project. I made one pattern and used my printer to copy it. Make sure you have all your printer supplies. I like to buy my inexpensive supplies here. (there is never a good time to run out of ink) and copy using construction paper instead of plain white! Easy peasy.

FINGERPRINT APPLE TREES
Supplies
*Brown construction paper
*Green construction paper
*Glue (we love glue sticks)
*Red ink pad, stamper or paint (pick your level of messy fun)

Directions
It’s very easy. You can print out a tree trunk pattern from your favorite source or free hand it on the brown construction paper. Cut an irregular oval on the green paper to make the top of the tree. You’ll need one trunk and one top per child. You can either glue them together or have your little helper glue them. Now for the fun part. Using one or two fingers, dip in paint or ink pad. Decorate your tree with tiny apples.

This is a great craft for practicing fine motor skills. Make sure they are just using one or two fingers at most to make their apples. Sometimes tiny hands like to go crazy with this so I like to count apples while we make them to help focus. It is your project so make it your own and have fun with it!!

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