Apple Printmaking with a Math Twist: Preschool STEAM Activity

Put a math twist on the classic apple printmaking art project.

This easy STEAM inspired art project is one example of how to combine math and art for a fun interactive and hands on learning activity.

STEAM is adding art to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)!

We believe art and creative thinking is a critical and essential part to your child’s healthy development and future success.

Apple printing is a great way to introduce printmaking to young artists.  We have experimented with different types of printmaking but this time we took the activity a step further by incorporating a math game in addition to creating our apple prints.

Lil B (6) and M-Woww (4) both enjoyed this mix of math and art to make learning fun and hands-on!

EASY CLEAN UP TIP: Be sure to read our tutorial below to see how tip on how to avoid messy fingers while printing with the apples. 

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Materials:

Apple

Fork

White Paper

Red Paint

Black Paint

Q-Tip

Dice (We used a large foam die from the Dollar Store)

Markers (optional)

PART ONE: MAKING APPLE PRINTS

You may wish to divide this activity into two different parts. You can do each part on different days or you can finish the entire activity in one day (but allow time for paint to dry).

Step 1: Cut an apple in half vertically and insert a fork into the rounded side of the apple half. The fork will provide for an easy handle for your child to dip the apple in the paint and on their paper. This method worked well for us rather than just using our fingers to lift the apple.

Step 2: Hold the apple by the fork and dip the apple (flat side down) in the paint.

Step 3. Stamp the apple up and down on the white paper and repeat as necessary. We were able to get 2-3 apple prints before we needed to dip the apple back in the paint. Let the paint dry completely.

PART TWO:  “ADDING” THE APPLE SEEDS (This is the Math part of the activity)

Step 1.  Select an apple print.  Roll the die and use the number rolled to dictate how many “seeds” to add to your apple print. Use the Q-tip dipped in black paint to apply your corresponding number of seeds.

Out of Q-Tips?  You also could use your finger dipped in the black paint and make your fingerprint be the seed.

For M-Woww, we practiced counting…..first on the dice and then as she add the same number of seeds to her apple prints.

For Lil B (since he is a little older) we practiced addition by adding up multiple numbers for the seeds. We also counted at the end for a grand total number of seeds added to his artwork.

To finish the piece of art add details with markers, such as a stem or a leaf….or even a worm! Let your child be creative and take ownership of their own work of art.

There are lots of variations of this activity you could create based on your child’s skills in Math. You could work in multiplication or work on grouping for older children.