Apple Picking Tree

What you need

• a big flattened cardboard box
• a felt tip
• red paper
• masking tape
• a basket

How to do it

1. Draw a big tree on the cardboard and tape it to the wall at your toddler's height.
2. Cut six to eight apple-sized circles from the red paper and stick each one on with a loop of masking tape.
3. Show them how to pull an apple off the tree and drop it in the basket.
4. Count the apples into the basket together.
5. Stick them back on, or let them stick them back on, and go again.

Why it matters

Pulling things off and dropping them in a basket is a favourite toddler job, and the tree gives it a story.

What they're learning

Pinch and pull

Getting a finger behind the apple and pulling it off works the fingertips.

Posting

Dropping each apple into the basket is careful aiming practice.

Counting along

Counting the apples in gives them the numbers in order, again and again.

What to look for

Watch whether they pick the low apples first or reach for the high ones. Reaching up is good stretching too.

A tip

Masking tape comes off walls without a mark. Keep the apples big, at least the size of your palm.

More like this

Pea Picking Plate from 18 months · 10-15 min Paper Bag Ghost from 14 months · 10-15 min Two Hands Full from 12 months · 5 min Paper on the Wall from 22 months · 5-10 min