Apple Picking Sensory Bin

This year we created another super simple Rosh Hashahanh set up with this Apple Picking Sensory Bin, but added a fun extension twist by including apple counting cards to practice those math and counting skills. Learn about the Rosh Hashanah tradition of picking apples and practice math in a fun way? Always a cause for a happy dance in this house!

What You’ll Need

Rosh Hashanah Apple Counting Cards free printable
White cardstock
Sensory Bin
Red, Green and Yellow pom poms
Toilet paper roll
Brown paint
Scissors
Green cardstock
Velcro dots
Tongs

Putting It Together

Paint your toilet paper rolls brown.
Once dry, cut two tiny triangles at the top on opposite sides.
Cut a tree crown (the top of a tree) out of the green cardstock, one for however many toilet paper roll trees you wish to create.
Add multiple velcro dots to each crown (I did 5 on each one).
Add the colored pom poms to the velcro dots.
Place the pom pom dotted tree crown into the slits at the top of the toilet paper roll trunks.
Set the trees inside your sensory bin.
Plop the rest of the colored pom poms into the sensory bin.
Print out your Rosh Hashanah Apple Counting Cards on the white cardstock.
Place the cards next to your sensory bin.
Set up a ten frame if you want.
Invite your child to pick the number of pom pom apples with the tongs that match the card chosen. we placed our “apples” in the ten frame.
Keep picking, exploring and having fun!

Finished & Loving It!

When I set up our High Holidays Shelfie I had included one of these adorable little pom pom trees and the kids practiced picking the pom pom apples off the tree and putting them back on again. They were super happy to see the tree come out again, with a friend, in sensory bin form! My big kindergarten also loved the addition of the Rosh Hashanah Apple Counting Cards. It’s a fun way for him to practice these skills and have fun at the same time.

We go apple picking every Rosh Hashanah so the kids are very familiar with this tradition. It was so fun to see it transformed into sensory play.

I included brand new tongs with this activity and they were not as flexible as our other ones. This is actually good news! My kindergartener was bummed they were harder to move but us grown ups know this means his hands were working harder, developing those muscles and better preparing him for the pencil grip he will be using at school this year.

These toilet paper roll trees are of course not the most sturdy and this actually added another surprising bonus in the world of child development: my kiddo had to support the tree with one hand while his other one used the tongs to pick and move the pom pom apples. This was such a great opportunity for extra coordination and focus practice!

I set up a tray that has ten compartments as a ten frame for this activity. It really helped my guy practice placing one pom pom in each section and counting to make sure he matched the correct number from the Rosh Hashanah Apple Counting Cards.

This was another simple set up, maybe a total of 10 minutes of prep (not including the trunk drying time). I love how it gave us the opportunity to not only talk about one of our favorite Rosh Hashanah traditions, but also let the kids practice this tradition of apple picking in a fun way AND also practice those counting skills! Yay!