Sticky Apple Tree Color Matching Activity

A simple color matching and apple tree activity for preschoolers and toddlers.

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One of the best manipulatives I ever purchased for our activities have been the acrylic apples and leaves we found at Michael's. We've used them for sensory bins, light table activities, and so much more! This apple tree activity is another fun idea that uses the acrylic apples.

In this activity, my toddler and preschooler worked on color matching, fine motor skills, and imaginative play. Plus, the use of sticky contact paper provides them with some tactile sensory input as well. But, most importantly, I could keep the kids busy for over 30 minutes!

What You Need for this Sticky Apple Tree Activity

For this activity, you'll need:

• Contact paper

• Tape

• Colored permanent markers

• Acrylic apples (I found ours at Michael's)

Using colored permanent markers, draw an outline of a tree on the non-sticky side of the contact paper. Then draw dots throughout the tree to match the colors of the apples, which, in this case, were red and green. Then tape the tree, sticky side out, onto a vertical surface. I choose to do it on a mirror for a little extra sensory input, but it would also look fantastic on a light table, similar to this activity.

I decided to make two trees, one for each of my boys, so I could avoid them fighting over the activity.

Toddlers & Preschoolers with Love this Color Matching Activity!

The goal with this activity is to match the acrylic apples to the colored dots on the apple tree. The contact paper will hold the apples in place (see the photo below), but the kids can easily pick the apples off and do the activity over and over if they want.

The boys spent literally 30 to 45 uninterrupted minutes playing with this activity. Sometimes they would work on their individual trees and other times, they'd work collaboratively on a tree. Once they matched all the apples, they would remove them all and start over.

This post originally appeared on B. Inspired Mama. You can read the original post here.

Other Apple Activities You'll Love

Apple Sensory Bin

Apple Math Tray

Apple Counting & Sorting Activity