Storytime Apple Picking

It's officially fall storytime season here in Michigan! That means the caregivers are toting pumpkin spice lattes and we're going apple picking in storytime! This week we talked about fall and read Leaves by David Ezra Stein, Fall is Not Easy by Marty Kelley, and The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri. Following the last book, the kids (and their grownups--some of the apples are still up on the higher branches--aka bookshelves) are dismissed to find some of the 70-ish apples hidden around the back half of our children's programming room where the craft tables are. After the kids are done, they come back to the circle and we recite "Way Up High in the Apple Tree" using the apples they found:

Way Up High in the Apple Tree

Two red apples smiled at me. 

I shook that tree as hard as I could,

Down came an apple...

Mmmmm mmmm good!

The apples were included in our storytime tub this week and suggested to go with that rhyme. Instead of passing them out myself, I thought it would be more fun to let the kids find them. We've done this with gemstones for a pirate theme and they always love to collect objects. It gives them a chance to stretch their legs and then I can set-up for the next activity.