If you’re looking for an easy paper plate apple craft, I created this free printable template to make putting one together simple for parents and teachers. With a paper plate, paint, construction paper, and a few basic craft supplies, children can create their own adorable apple while practicing cutting, gluing, and fine motor skills.
This paper plate apple craft with a free printable template is perfect for preschool and kindergarten apple units, fall activities, back-to-school crafts, and Letter A lessons. I designed the printable so you can use the large apple template to shape a 9- or 10-inch paper plate, then print the included stem and leaf templates directly onto colored construction paper.
It’s an easy way to add a hands-on activity to your apple theme without having to draw all those craft pieces yourself.
Easy Paper Plate Apple Craft for Kids
Apples are one of my favorite themes for early learning because there are so many directions you can take them. You can use apples to introduce colors, counting, the letter A, healthy foods, seasons, apple life cycles, and more.
They’re also a natural fit for the beginning of the school year when many preschool and kindergarten classrooms are moving into fall and apple themes.
This simple paper plate apple craft for kids gives children a creative break from worksheets while still working on important early learning skills.
As children cut and assemble the craft, they’re practicing hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Following the steps in order also gives them practice listening to and following directions.
And at the end, they have a cheerful little apple to take home or add to your classroom apple orchard.
What’s Included in the Free Paper Plate Apple Craft Template?
I created this printable to make prepping your apple craft easier, especially when you’re working with a classroom or group of children.
The free printable includes:
- Large apple shape template
- Printable stem templates
- Printable leaf templates
- Paper plate apple craft instructions
The large apple outline is designed to be used as a guide for shaping a 9- or 10-inch paper plate. The printable also includes multiple stems and leaves per page, making it easier to prepare enough pieces for several children.
The templates are black and white, but you don’t have to spend time coloring every little stem and leaf.
Instead, I recommend printing the stem template directly onto brown construction paper and the leaf template onto green construction paper. It’s an easy way to add color and texture to the finished apple while keeping the printable itself ink-friendly.
Supplies for Your Paper Plate Apple Craft
You don’t need anything fancy for this apple craft. Most of the supplies are basic items you may already have in your classroom or craft cabinet.
Paper Plate Apple Craft Supplies
- 9- or 10-inch white paper plate
- Free printable apple craft template
- Red washable paint, crayons, or markers
- Brown construction paper
- Green construction paper
- White printer paper or cardstock
- Child-safe scissors
- Glue
- Paintbrush, if using paint
- Printer
If you’re using paint, washable tempera paint works nicely for covering a paper plate. Crayons and markers are a less messy alternative when you need a quick activity without drying time.
A Tip for Printing on Construction Paper
For this craft, I recommend printing the stem page onto brown construction paper and the leaf page onto green construction paper.
If your construction paper isn’t standard letter size, you can trim it to 8.5 x 11 inches before placing it in your printer.
Be sure to check your printer’s instructions first to make sure it can handle the weight and type of construction paper you’re using. If your construction paper is too thick for your printer, you can print the templates onto regular paper, cut them out, and trace the pieces onto construction paper instead.
How to Make a Paper Plate Apple Craft
Once you’ve printed your free apple craft template and gathered your supplies, it’s time to turn that plain paper plate into an apple.
Step 1: Paint or Color the Paper Plate
Start with a plain white 9- or 10-inch paper plate.
Have children paint or color the front of the paper plate red.
If you’re using paint, set the plate aside and allow it to dry completely before continuing with the craft.
Red is the classic choice, but there’s no rule saying your apple orchard has to be entirely red. Children could also make green or yellow apples.
If you’re doing this craft with a classroom, letting children choose their apple colors could create a colorful apple orchard display.
Step 2: Print the Free Apple Craft Template
Print the large apple shape onto regular printer paper or cardstock.
Next, print the stem template onto brown construction paper and the leaf template onto green construction paper.
I’ve included several stems and leaves on their respective pages, which makes it easier to prepare this activity for multiple children.
If you can’t print directly onto construction paper, simply print the pieces on regular paper and use them as tracing templates.
Step 3: Cut Out the Apple Craft Pieces
Cut out the large apple shape, one stem, and one leaf along the outside lines.
Older preschoolers and kindergarten students who are comfortable using scissors can cut out their own stems and leaves.
For younger children, you may want to cut the pieces ahead of time or provide help as needed.
Step 4: Shape the Paper Plate Like an Apple
Now it’s time to give your round paper plate its apple shape.
Place the large printable apple template over the paper plate and use it as your guide.
Trace the curved sections at the top and bottom of the apple onto the plate. Remove the template and carefully cut away the excess portions of the paper plate.
You should now have the familiar indented top and bottom that make the plate look much more like an apple.
For younger preschoolers, I recommend having an adult complete this step ahead of time. Children can then focus on decorating and assembling their apples.
Step 5: Add the Stem and Leaf
Glue the brown construction-paper stem behind the top of the apple so that it sticks up above the paper plate.
Next, glue the green construction-paper leaf beside the stem.
Children can decide which direction they’d like their leaf to point, giving each finished apple a slightly different look.
Step 6: Give Your Paper Plate Apple a Face
Now comes the part that gives each apple a little personality.
Add eyes, cheeks, and a smiling mouth to the front of the apple. Children can use the face shown in the printable instructions as inspiration or create their own expressions.
You could have smiling apples, surprised apples, sleepy apples, or a whole classroom orchard of completely different personalities.
Step 7: Let the Apple Craft Dry
Allow all of the glued pieces to dry completely before picking up or displaying the finished craft.
Your paper plate apple is finished!
What Skills Does This Apple Craft Practice?
Crafts can be a fun break from traditional learning activities, but they’re also packed with opportunities to practice early childhood skills.
While completing this paper plate apple craft, children can work on:
- Fine motor skills
- Scissor skills
- Hand-eye coordination
- Gluing
- Painting and coloring
- Following directions
- Sequencing
- Color recognition
- Creativity
Cutting out the stem and leaf gives children practice following thick lines with scissors, while positioning and gluing the pieces requires a different kind of hand control.
Those little movements add up.
This is one reason I believe simple crafts can be such a useful addition to preschool and kindergarten learning. Children are still developing important skills, but the activity feels completely different from sitting down with another worksheet.
Use This Paper Plate Apple Craft for a Letter A Lesson
Of course, an apple craft practically begs to become a Letter A craft.
If you’re working on the alphabet with preschool or kindergarten students, pair this activity with your Letter A lessons.
Before starting the craft, show children uppercase A and lowercase a and practice the beginning sound together.
Ask:
“What sound do you hear at the beginning of apple?”
Then brainstorm other words that begin with A.
You could also have children write an uppercase A and lowercase a on the back of their finished apples.
For additional practice, pair the craft with Letter A tracing, handwriting, beginning sounds, letter recognition, or coloring activities.
Turn Your Apple Craft into a Simple Science Activity
Apple season is a great opportunity to sneak a little science into your preschool or kindergarten activities.
Before making the craft, cut open a real apple and explore it together.
Introduce children to basic parts of an apple, including:
- Stem
- Leaf
- Skin
- Flesh
- Core
- Seeds
Let children examine the inside and outside of the apple. You can talk about its color, shape, smell, and texture.
Then compare the real apple with the paper plate version they’re creating.
You could even cut open several varieties of apples and compare their colors and sizes.
Add Math to Your Apple Theme
A paper plate apple can easily lead to some simple preschool and kindergarten math activities.
Give children small black construction-paper “seeds” and ask them to count a specific number onto their apples.
You could give each child a different number or allow them to roll a die to determine how many seeds to add.
For younger children, practice basic one-to-one correspondence as they count each seed.
For kindergarten students, use two apples to introduce simple addition. Add three seeds to one apple and two to another, then count how many seeds there are altogether.
One craft has suddenly wandered into math class.
Apple Books to Read with Your Paper Plate Apple Craft
One of the easiest ways to turn this craft into a complete themed lesson is to pair it with an apple picture book.
Here are a few books that would work well with your apple activities:
Apples by Gail Gibbons
This nonfiction picture book is a good choice for introducing children to how apples grow and where they come from. Pair it with an apple investigation or apple life cycle lesson before making the craft.
The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall
This story follows an apple tree through the seasons and works especially well when you’re talking about fall, seasons, and how apples grow.
Ten Apples Up On Top! by Dr. Seuss
If you’re adding math to your apple theme, this book gives you an easy connection to counting.
After reading, children can practice counting apples or see how many paper apples they can stack in a separate activity.
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
This story takes an apple theme in a completely different direction and can introduce conversations about food, ingredients, and geography.
Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington
Use this story to talk about apple orchards, harvesting apples, and the many foods that can be made from apples.
You can also add Amazon affiliate links to the books and craft supplies in this section to give parents and teachers an easy way to find what they need for the activity.
Make a Classroom Apple Orchard
Don’t hide those finished apples in backpacks just yet.
If you’re completing this paper plate apple craft for preschool or kindergarten, turn the finished projects into a fall classroom display.
Create a large tree from brown and green bulletin board paper and surround it with the children’s paper plate apples.
Add each child’s name to their apple or underneath it.
You could use a classroom display saying:
A Bushel of Friends
Our Class Is Awesome to the Core
The Sweetest Apples in the Orchard
A is for Apple
You could also attach a simple writing activity underneath each craft.
Try prompts such as:
My favorite apple is…
If I had an apple tree…
I like apples because…
A is for…
Preschool children can dictate their responses to an adult, while kindergarten students can draw a picture or write a simple sentence.
More Apple Printables and Activities
If you’re planning an apple theme, you can use this craft alongside other printable learning activities to create a complete day or week of apple fun.
Try adding:
You can also set up different learning centers. Children might complete the paper plate apple craft at your art center, practice Letter A at your literacy center, and work on apple counting at your math center.
More Ways to Use Your Free Apple Craft Template
The printable pieces don’t have to be used only one way.
If you don’t have paper plates available, children could trace the large apple template onto red construction paper and create a completely paper version of the craft.
You could also let children tear small pieces of red tissue paper or construction paper and glue them onto the apple shape for a simple torn-paper craft.
For a name activity, write each child’s name across the finished apple.
For an apple counting craft, glue paper seeds onto the apple.
For a Letter A activity, add a large uppercase or lowercase A to the center.
That gives you several ways to reuse the same template depending on what you’re currently teaching.
Pin This Paper Plate Apple Craft for Later
Planning your fall, back-to-school, apple, or Letter A activities?
Save this paper plate apple craft with free printable template to your favorite preschool crafts, kindergarten activities, apple activities, fall crafts, or Letter A Pinterest board so you can find it when you need an easy hands-on activity.
Get Your Free Paper Plate Apple Craft Template Here
Ready to make your apple?
I created this free printable paper plate apple craft template to make preparing this activity a little easier for parents, homeschool families, and teachers.
The printable includes a large apple template to help shape your paper plate, plus separate pages of stems and leaves. The stem and leaf pages contain multiple pieces, making them convenient when you’re preparing the craft for more than one child.
For easy prep, print the stem template onto brown construction paper and the leaf template onto green construction paper. Then print the apple shape onto regular printer paper or cardstock and use it as your guide for shaping a 9- or 10-inch paper plate.
Enter your email in the form below for instant access to your free paper plate apple craft template.
After you hit the download button, your printable will open instantly so you can print it and start crafting.
Already subscribed? No worries! If you’ve downloaded something from us before, simply fill out the form again, and you’ll automatically sent get your download after you hit the download button—no extra steps needed.
A Fun and Easy Apple Craft for Fall
This paper plate apple craft is a simple way to combine creativity with early learning. Children get to paint, cut, glue, and assemble their own apple while practicing fine motor skills and following directions.
Use it for an apple unit, fall theme, back-to-school activity, Letter A lesson, homeschool project, preschool craft, or kindergarten classroom display. Add an apple-themed picture book, a few Letter A worksheets, or a simple apple science activity, and this little paper plate can become part of an entire day of learning.
Best of all, the free printable apple craft template takes care of the shapes for you, so you can spend less time preparing and more time enjoying the activity with your children or students.
All printables are for for personal, library, or classroom use only. By using this site, you agree to our terms of use.
Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, which can provide compensation to me at no extra cost to you if you decide to purchase a product. These are products that I personally stand behind. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.