Materials
Empty containers (salad dressing or ketchup bottles work best because they are
easier to grip)
Assortment of items, such as beans, rice, seeds, popcorn, rocks, sand, and so on
Instructions
1. Discuss the names, colors, tastes, and shapes of the actual fruit. Talk about the
differences between the fruit.
2. Choose a child and ask her to put her hands behind her back. Then place
one of the fruits into her hand and see if she can identify it by touch.
3. If desired, do the same activity with taste. Ask the child to close her eyes and
then put a small piece of fruit into her mouth. Can she identify it by the taste?
4. Make fruit puppets with the children. Beforehand, cut out pear, orange,
apple, and banana shapes from oak tag.
5. Ask each child to pick either a pear, orange, or apple shape for the head and
four banana shapes for the arms and legs.
6. Give each child a paper bag. This will be the body of the hand puppet.
7. Encourage them to decorate the bag and color the shapes with crayons.
8. Staple the head onto the closed end of the bag, and attach two bananas for
the arms and two for the legs.
9. The children's hands will fit comfortably inside the opening of the bag.
More to do
You can also make vegetable puppets using a potato or green pepper shape for
the head and carrots for the limbs. The children can choose between a fruit or
vegetable puppet. This will allow for some classification experience.
Original fingerplay:
Way up in the apple tree, (child pretends to be a tree)
Two little apples looked at me. (hold up two fingers, then make eyeglasses
with your thumb and forefinger)
I shook that tree as hard as I could, (child wiggles up and down)
Down fell the apples (fingers flutter down)
Mmmmmmm were they good! (rub tummy)
