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With fall weather well under way and not only leaves but apples falling from the trees we have added an apple twist to our learning here at home. Although BabyBear doesn't officially eat apples as of yet, I am hoping that with all this talk of apples, coloring of apples and sounds of apple letters that she will eventually be brave enough to give one a small nibble. (any advice for helping an EXTREMELY picky eater expand her horizons?) To help her understand the details on the growth of an apple and where they come from I created a visual step by step set up for her out of modelling clay.
If you would like to create your own you will need: Fimo (Brown, Green, White, Pink, Yellow and Red) Smooth Work Space Paint Brush Small Knife
After choosing your apple color (green, red or yellow) you will start by rolling a small amount of clay between your two palms in to a ball. I created my mini apple to be no bigger than a grape in size.
Once you have your ball rolled you will need to take the rounded end of a small paintbrush and very carefully indent a space on the top of your ball for the stem to sit in.
Taking a very small piece of brown clay, begin to roll it in between your finger and thumb until you reach a small stick or worm like look. Place one end of your stick into the indention on the top of your apple, giving the other end a slight bend in it to create your apple stem look.
Now with your green Fimo you will need to create a miniature leaf that will attach to the stem...and your apple is complete.
This next apple growth step I found to be the most difficult...and although I figured out a way to make what I wanted I would appreciate any advice from clay artists on how to do this any easier. For my results, I started with a white ball of clay
and then wrapped it in a red piece of clay...rolling them together until all you could see was the red clay. At this point I cut the ball in half so that both the red skin and white flesh part were showing at the same time.
Indent the very center of your apple half with your paintbrush. This will become the home of your apple seeds. You can also repeat the stem and leaf look on this piece again if you like for added decoration. All that is missing now are the apple seeds...Create these with your brown clay by rolling tiny, little oblong shapes between your index finger and thumb...how many you create is up to you and the size of apple you are building. Place all your seeds into their new home and you have you apple innards step complete.
The rest of the steps are very simple and only require the green and brown for the most part...
Apple Blossom:
I used Pink Clay to create the blossom...with a touch of yellow fimo for the center piece and attached them to a small green leaf with knife marked lines for depth. I used this part to show the growth on the tree right before the apples themselves are showing.
Sprout:
I again used brown fimo for the stem of the sprout with a few green leaves growing on top to show the first growth after the seeds are planted and how small a tree actually is in the beginning stages.
Seeds:
Brown Fimo was used, applying the same technique that was used to created the apple seeds earlier to show the first step in the growth of an apple tree we see today in our apple orchards.
My apologies for the low budget pictures...I have not yet figured out the Macro style of taking pictures. I promise I will work on that.
If you would like more on apples, please check back as I will be attaching some files I have created to help further your little ones apple knowledge while having fun at the same time.
Now Go Be Creative...and remember if you have any clay creating advice please share...as that is a new area for me and I really do want to learn all that I can.
