I enjoy going to the apple orchard and wandering through the rows of beautiful trees. The orchard was our inspiration for this craft. I love working with cardboard. Not only does it look great painted, but it’s free! I love when we can reuse something that is intended for the trash or recycling and make it look great! 
Start with any piece of corrugated cardboard. We used boxes that came in the mail, and cut the box flaps to the right size. Next you will need to distress your cardboard. My kids loved this step. Peel off the top layer of cardboard to reveal the corrugated inside. It can take some patience, but totally worth it. Don’t worry about removing all the paper, this will create the texture and depth to your piece. 
When you are painting your piece, don’t worry about getting into each groove. Messy/sloppy painting is best. 
Build your picture with more pieces of cardboard. Use the same distressing treatment to each layer. It can be hard for kids to cut cardboard, but if you remove the top layer of paper first it is much easier. We just used regular scissors and it worked great. 
I love how they turned out and all the texture! Once all the layers are dry, glue them together with a hot glue gun. I have found this to be the best glue to use when working with cardboard, but it might be because I like the instant results. Depending on your kids age, cold glue guns work great too. Just be careful! 
These little pictures make me want to go pick apples! Hopefully I can find an apple tree on a hill:) Are you looking for the perfect apple craft, recipe or activity? This is the perfect spot to find it all. Sit back and enjoy all the fun inspiration…all about apples!
Recycling
- Cardboard Apple Trees from Housing A Forest
- Apple Tree Craft from I Heart Crafty Things
- Paper Bag Apple Tree from Creative Jewish Mom
- Recycle Plastic Bottles & Make Super Cute Apple Shaped Boxes! from Creative Jewish Mom
- Craft an Apple Tree from Happy Home Fairy
Crafts
- Scrubber and Cork Stamping Apple Tree from Putti’s World
- Tissue Paper Apple Craft from Krafty Kid
- Magnetic Apple Picking Fun from CraftoArt
- Apple Make Over for Snow White form AngeliqueFeliz
- Torn Paper Apple Trees from 3 Dinosaurs
Apple Stamping
- Apple Printing Wall Banner & Weekly Kid’s Co-op from 2 big, 2 little.
- Apple Stamping and Kid’s Co-op from 2 big, 2 little
- Apple Print Pumpkins from Playful Learners
- Scented Apple pie paper plate art from Momma’s Fun World
- Making apple prints a little easier from Red Teds Art’s Blog
- Apple Printing Pumpkins from NurtureStore
- Apple and leaf prints from Putti’s World
- Apple Print Banner from Toddler Approved
Books and a Craft
- Up, Up, Up! It’s Apple-Picking Time – Yarn Apples from 3 Dinosaurs
- The Apple Pie Tree Book: Magnetic Four seasons play from CraftoArt
- Apple Trees {Paper Plate Craft} from Reading Confetti.
- Ten Apples: Read.Explore.Learn. from JDaniel4′s Mom
- Apples, apples, apples from See Vanessa Craft
- Sticky table friendship apples from Teach Preschool.
- Apple printing and gorgeous book from My Little Bookcase
Dough Recipes
- Apple Scented Cloud Dough Activity from Growing A Jeweled Rose
- Apple Scented Play dough from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails
Letters and Numbers
- Apple Picking for Literacy from Growing A Jeweled Rose
- Make your own number learning apple tree from Momma’s Fun World
- Apple tree math game from Teacher Mama
- Alphabet and Vowel Apples – Back to School Basics from Toddler Approved
- After School Express – Apple FUN for kindergarten! from The Educators’ Spin On It.
Apple Recipes
- Krispy Apple Treats from Gourmet Mom on-the-Go
- Two ingredient homemade apple sauce from In Lieu of Preschool
- Apple Pie: Little Hands that Cook with Books from The Educators’ Spin on It.
- Lunch Idea- Apples for Lunch from JDaniel4′s Mom
- Recipe: Mrs. Mariner’s Homemade Applesauce from JDaniel4′s Mom
- Jello Apple Chips from Mama Miss
- Fun with fruit from Mess For Less
- Jam making with the kids from NurtureStore
Printables
- Fall Pack Extra: Dot Markers from 3 Dinosaurs
- Make your Own Bingo Game from Projects for Preschoolers
- A is for happy apple coloring page from Projects for Preschoolers
- Fingerprint Apples from 3 Dinosaurs
- How to Make an Apple Pie (FREEBIE Included!) from The Reading Mama
Activities
- Apple Themed Sensory Box from Pink andGreen Mama
- Working together to create our friendship apple tree from Teach Preschool.
- Apple Extravaganza from Creative Connections for Kids
- Apple Tasting from The Pleasantest Thing
- Back to school apple projects from Rainbows within Reach
- Apples from Loving My Nest
- Theme Week: Apple Activities from KC Edventures
- Outside Play- Apples Link Up from JDaniel4′s Mom
Science
- A is for Apple Tree Investigation from Inspiration Laboratories.
- Outside Play: Apples from Inspiration Laboratories
- Apples Are Not Just Red from Little Moments
Happy apple crafting!
Check out this fun list of fall ideas!
Wow- the finished product looks absolutely amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks also for featuring our post in your wonderful line-up of Apple activities.
Thanks for stopping by! We had so much fun creating it.
LOVE your project and thanks for linking to me. Would love it if you’d share this on Craft Schooling Sunday, always looking for great bloggers like you to join us, and you’ll certainly get featured, as the party is a nice small size!
I just linked up. Thanks for the invite. I can’t wait to try making an apple shaped container with me kids!
I love the texture of the art and the fact that you used recycled cardboard!
Thanks! We love creating from our recycle bin.
Your craft is ADORABLE! WOW! Thanks for linking up to the Fairy! 🙂
Thanks! I can’t wait to try your tree craft with my preschoolers! .
I’m totally going to try this with my kids this week. I love how the finished masterpiece looks. Thanks for posting such great ideas . . . I just recently stumbled across your blog.
I would love to see how yours turn out! My kids had lots of fun creating them. I’m glad you found us.
Fabulous project, love it! Thanks so much for sharing on Craft Schooling Sunday, and hope you’ll join us again!
ooohhhh! that corrugation adds such a wonderful texture! thanks so much for linking this up to tip-toe thru tuesday!
The texture is my favorite part too!
I know just the right orchard to find an “apple tree on a hill!” I’ll have to tell you about it! I love all the ideas……and the newly “remodeled” blog!
I love it! We were unable to find my apple tree on a hill this year, so I’m excited that you know of one!
This is really great. I absolutely love it and am glad you found my recycling post and shared this. I pinned it to my recycle board!
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