Apples & Pumpkins

I like to do a combined apples/pumpkins storytime because the two items are a nice contrast to each other : one is red, the other is orange. One grows in trees, the other grows on the ground. One you eat fresh and raw, the other you cut up and cook (or make a jack-o-lantern!).

In either case, we celebrated the bounty of fall harvests with all things A & P ... that is, apple & pumpkin.
Here are the books we shared :

I also cobbled together this "Apples & Pumpkins" fingerplay rhyme which went over extremely well :

Apples, apples, what a treat! (rub tummy)
Sweet and tart and good to eat.
Apples green ... apples red ... (show R fist & L fist for apples)
Hang from branches overhead. (put fists up in the air)
And when they ripen, down they drop, ("drop" fists into lap)
So we can taste our apple crop!

Pumpkins, pumpkins, big and round, (arms form a large circle)
I'm glad you grow upon the ground! (point to floor)
I'm glad you don't grow in a tree (big arms over head)
For then you might fall down on me! (ahhh!! pretend that pumpkin falls SPLAT on your head)

For our flannel story I borrowed this idea from Storytime Katie -- I had used this in the past but with only a single puppet, not multiple ones as recommended.
Today I used the following puppets :
a crow
a mouse
a squirrel
a rabbit
a monkey (a monkey?!? on a farm?? you betcha)
I never thought the kids would love it so much! Seriously, with each puppet I brought out to take a bite from the farmer's apples, there was MUCH LOUD SCREAMING. Who knew???