Johnny Appleseed Visual Discrimination Game for Preschoolers
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We celebrate Johnny Appleseed Day on September 26, and since fall is the perfect time to harvest apples, we want to celebrate his day with a FREE visual discrimination game. But before we start with the activity, let’s talk a little bit about this historical figure that over the years turned into a legend.
Who was Johnny Appleseed?
Johnny Appleseed‘s real name was John Chapman. He was an American pioneer born in Massachusetts on September 26, 1774. He bought land and carefully planted apple nurseries instead of orchards, fencing them to protect and care for them. He sold these young trees to people so they could start their orchards, introducing apple trees in Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and West Virginia. Because of this, he was known as the “apple seed man.” He also traveled as a missionary and converted many Native Americans who thought the Great Spirit touched Johnny. He died on March 18, 1845.
Today, our image of him is traveling barefoot, with long hair, wearing a pan for a hat, ragged plants, and a coffee sack for a shirt, spreading apple seeds everywhere we went. That part is a legend.
Johnny Appleseed Visual Discrimination Game
This FREE game is a visual discrimination activity perfect for your math center. Your preschoolers will enjoy it while they learn, and it’s ready for you to print and use at the bottom of this post!
It is perfect for your Johnny Appleseed theme and fall and apple themes. Since Preschoolers love to spin and cover games, this one will have practiced their fine motor, visual discrimination, and one-to-one correspondence skills.
Setting Up the Game
To set up this game, you need a few supplies:
- Johnny Appleseed Visual Discrimination Game (found at the bottom of this post).
- Apple mini erasers, red and green glass gems, or bingo chips can be used as game pieces.
- Brads paper fasteners or transparent spinners.
How to Play The Johnny Appleseed Game
Students can play the Johnny Appleseed spin and cover game independently or in pairs.
To play in pairs, preschoolers must use two different types of color markers. They will take turns spinning the spinner and covering the corresponding picture on the mat. The child loses the turn if the spinner falls in a no longer available picture. Ultimately, the child who placed five consecutive markers in any direction on the recording sheet won the game.
Preschoolers will spin the spinner and cover a corresponding picture on the mat to play independently. This continues until they cover five consecutive photographs or the entire mat if they want.
Books About Johnny Appleseed
For me, books are an essential part of any theme or activity. They introduce what you will talk about, expand the children’s vocabulary and imagination, provide a continued source of enjoyment, and are an excellent way to tie all the domains, among other benefits. The following books can help your preschoolers get to know John Chapman better.
- My Little Golden Book About Johnny Appleseed by Lori Haskins Houran will introduce preschoolers to John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. It uses lyrical text and bright, appealing artwork to capture the essence of this important American and early conservationist who traveled the country planting apple trees.
- Johnny Appleseed by Jane Kurtz tells the story of a man who walked across the land, planting trees wherever he went.
- Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindbergh uses rhymed text and illustrations to relate the life of John Chapman. His distribution of apple seeds and trees across the Midwest made him a legend and left a legacy he still enjoys today.
- Johnny Appleseed by Jodie Shepherd is a beautifully illustrated story that retells how Johnny Appleseed bloomed from a young boy who loved the outdoors into the legendary man who spread apple trees across the United States.
- Johnny Appleseed: My Story by David L. Harrison, using his folksy voice, Johnny Appleseed tells his story to a couple of entranced children in this fictionalized storybook.
It’s Fall, and during this season, we have a lot of fun celebrations. Check out the Fall Theme and Centers and the Native American Day posts. They both have many ideas for all your centers that you can use for your lesson plans. Better yet, both posts include many FREE printables.
I hope your kids enjoy this game as much as mine did! And don’t forget to grab your FREE game. Just click on the link below for an immediate download.
Be happy, safe, and creative. I wish you well.
Love,
P.D. Please let me know if this game worked for you or if you think I need to add or replace something. My goal is to help you in any way I can, and I wouldn’t say I like anything better than to post something that you might find helpful. Also, if you came up with different ideas and want to share them, I would love to post them.
