Montessori Fall Activities for Kids- Visualizing Fractions with Apple Cutting

A quick and fun family math activity

Fall is such a wonderful time for apples, why not try this fun Montessori fall activity for kids with your family? This fall activity for kids brings together fine motor work (cutting and arranging), visual discrimination (ordering from largest to smallest) and math vocabulary (fractions and comparison) in one easy to do activity. The best part? The cut apples make the perfect snack when the activity is through. It’s a great Montessori fall activities to enjoy.

What you’ll need:

• Apple, or other round and easy to cut fruit, for a fun Montessori fall activity for kids.
• Cutting board and child safe knife (we have this set and it has held up well, but I love using wooden cutting boards in the classroom for our Montessori fall activities.)

Steps for these fall Montessori activities:

Safety note: cuts can happen, even with child safe knives. Please be sure to supervise your child and enforce proper knife safety. Here is a great article on teaching these safety skills to children.

This week, I’m happy to share a demonstration video of this fall activity for kids, featuring my 2.5 year old daughter. Of course, the written instructions are also included below the video- feel free to use whichever format is most helpful for you. We often enjoy Montessori fall activities together this season.

Part one: Cutting the apple

1. Start by cutting the apple in half (I usually do this first cut myself as it can be difficult with the apple rolling around). Place one half of the apple at the top of your cutting board.
2. Take the other apple half and show your child how to cut it in half. If they want to, let them make this cut (it’s okay if its not perfect). You now have a fourth- place one forth at the top of your cutting board.
3. Take the other forth and show your child how to cut it in half. Again, encourage them to make the cut if they want to. You now have an eighth- place on eighth at the top of your cutting board.
4. Time to make the last cut! Take the other eighth and show your child how to cut it in half. This last cut is a little tricky, but allow your child to try if they are interested. You now have a sixteenth- place one sixteenth at the top of your cutting board and let your child eat the other (if they’re interested).

Part two: Comparisons and vocabulary

1. Arrange the apple pieces (or have your child arrange them) from largest to smallest on the cutting board. For younger children, this visual display may be the end of the activity- and that’s okay! Encourage them to eat from the bottom to the top (smallest to largest), giving them a tactile sense of increasing piece size with their hands… and mouths! Montessori fall activities often include this type of engaging comparison.
2. Play the “give me” game with different sized apple pieces. Ask your child to pick a piece of apple. Then, ask for a piece that is bigger or smaller than the piece they gave you.
3. Introduce fraction names. Explain the name of each apple piece (half, fourth, eight, sixteenth). Incorporate this into your fall activity for kids.
4. Compare apple piece sizes. Hold the pieces next to each other to compare. Try re-assembling the apple- what does your child notice during this part of the Montessori fall activities?

Fall Montessori Activity Benefits:

There is a lot of learning in this simple activity! This fun apple activity helps children develop valuable skills found in many Montessori fall activities:

• Fine motor skills– using the knife to cut and arranging the apple pieces provides valuable practice manipulating objects
• Visual discrimination skills- children need practice to notice differences between items, especially as those difference become more subtle. Seeing the “cut” and comparing the different apple pieces helps children pick up on differences in apple piece sizes
• Sensory impression of fractions- even without introducing vocabulary, this activity helps children understand that cutting a whole results in pieces and those pieces decrease in size with more cuts
• Real world math- helping children see “real world” math is very valuable and helps bring meaning to what can sometimes be an abstract topic. Connecting fractions to food is a great way to start! Especially when this is part of your Montessori fall activities.
• Mathematical vocabulary– bring math vocabulary (fraction names and bigger/smaller) to novel items is a great way to reinforce the meaning of these words and to expand a child’s math knowledge.

Ready for more fall fun?

Our store has many fall themed activities, ready to be downloaded and printed. Check them out here. You’ll find other great fall activity ideas for kids that align with Montessori fall activities approach.

If you tried this activity, we’d love to know how it went. Leave a comment below to share your favorite or most surprising part of this activity. And don’t forget to subscribe and follow us on socials for more Montessori activities and tips!