Last Updated on July 26, 2025 by Sheryl Cooper
Inside: Put together an apple orchard dramatic play activity with apples using cash registers, baskets and scales!
Every October we look forward to setting up our apple stand dramatic play center!
We turn our dramatic play area into an orchard and market, complete with a scale and cash registers, and handy bags and baskets for carrying the apples.
And, of course, a phone to take orders! Our apple orchard is a fun part of our apple theme, along with making apple prints and enjoying homemade applesauce! Watch the video:
Apple Orchard Dramatic Play
Our dramatic play area is a popular center in our toddler and preschool classroom. We change it with each theme, usually every two weeks. We open this area during our centers time, which is the first hour of our toddler and preschool schedule.
Related: 25+ Dramatic Play Activities
This center is so important for social development. At the beginning of the school year our two year olds play side by side, but as the school year progresses, they begin to play together. Such an important area for building communication skills, too!
There are four different classes in our small preschool, and we share our materials. When we plan our school year, we make sure each class has a different idea happening, so that each class has a turn with the materials. When we were finished with our dramatic play apple stand, we passed all of the materials on to the pre-kindergarten class. When every class is finished with that idea, we box it up for the next year.
Related: How to Store Classroom Materials
What we used in our apple stand dramatic play area:
- Signs, labels, and forms from our Apple Orchard Packet
- Pretend apples and apple pies
- Cash registers
- Scale
- Baskets and bags with handles
- Berry baskets
- Assorted tin pans
Welcome to our apple orchard!
The children wanted to place one apple in each section of a muffin tin. (1:1 correspondence happening during play.)
Related: Putting Together An Apple Theme In The Classroom
And, of course, they wanted to carry as many apples as they could at once.
Our scale was handy for weighing the apples. (Those of you who follow me on Instagram might recall when I found this at a garage sale!)
How many apples can fit in one basket?
Side note: See those beautiful apple quilts? Those were made by my mama. I love having a piece of her in my classroom, especially since she is no longer with us.
Once the apples were selected, it was time to pay for them.
Phone orders were taken, too.
Apple Picking Tree
We also had a “U-Pick” apple tree, where we picked apples off the tree and sorted them by color.
Our Apple Orchard Packet contains the sign and apples.
Simply copy them on to cardstock and laminate.
We put ours on a magnetic white board, so I used self-adhesive magnetic strips on the backs of the apples.
I placed red, yellow and green sorting bowls under the apple tree so they could sort the apples as they were picked off the tree.
While we had the apple orchard going on, we also had fun with these apple activities:
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Such a cute idea! I loved the phone orders. 🙂