Preschool Apple Math: Measurement Activity

This preschool apple math activity is full of preschool-friendly math, easy setup, and juicy learning. Preschoolers and math go together like apples and bananas and they go crazy for this activity.

Two hands hold an apple and hold a piece of string around its circumference. Behind is a red table top with scissors, tape, a roll of string, and several strings with tape and names on the end.

You don’t need anything fancy for preschool apple math

One of my favorite things about preschool math concepts is how kids can learn from the materials around them.

As kids get older, they often use expensive calculators and expensive textbooks, but many preschool math concepts can be learned with what you already have.

Something as simple as an apple can grow into a hands-on, engaging, meaningful preschool math lesson.

Let’s learn how.

🍎 Related: Check out this one-stop post for the best preschool apple activities!

8 pieces of strings of varying lengths lay on a red table. At the end of each piece of string is a piece of tape folded over and a word written on it(jar, ball, frosting, dog's bowl, apple, box of crayons, ice cube, yogurt).

This preschool apple math measurement activity is a 10/10

We love activities that come together in seconds.

We also love activities that provide rich knowledge to excite the minds of our littlest learners.

This activity has it all.

🍎 Looking for more apple activities? You’ll find these “a-peel-ing” (oh, how I love a pun)

Materials

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String
Tape
Permanent marker
Apple
Scissors
Miscellaneous items of your choosing

Part 1: Measure all of the things

I think of this measurement activity as having two parts: first measuring the circumference of items, then comparing and analyzing the results.

First, model measuring the circumference of something for your child to observe. For example, use the string to wrap around an apple, then cut the string so it’s the exact length of the apple’s circumference.

Next, add a piece of tape to one end of the string and write the name of what you measured (in this case it would say “apple”).

Repeat this process, measuring things large and small!

🍎 Note: I had to stick to relatively small things because I needed to photograph the strings together, but you can measure things of all sizes!

Some ideas of items to measure:

Apple
Water bottle
Ice cube
Arm
Shoe
Baby doll
Door
Chair
Couch
Dog
Paint bottle
Desk
Pencil

You can measure absolutely anything.

8 pieces of preschool apple math strings of varying lengths lay on a red table. At the end of each piece of string is a piece of tape folded over and a word written on it(jar, ball, frosting, dog's bowl, apple, box of crayons, ice cube, yogurt). Supplies are in the background (apple, scissors, roll of string, box of crayons, tube of frosting, jar).

Part 2: Compare and analyze the strings

Having a variety of strings provides kids with a wonderful visual representation of length.

Kids are able to clearly and easily see that the string from the ice cube is vastly smaller than the string from the couch.

Ask questions like

“What item had the smallest circumference? How can you tell?”
“What item had the largest circumference? How can you tell?”

Last, invite your child to line up the strings from shortest to longest.

When putting the strings in order, it is called seriation and it’s absolutely a word I would introduce to my preschoolers.

🍎 Related: When done, use your apples for apple stamp art!

A note about mathematical vocabulary

Use the big words.

I’m sure many of you have heard the phrase “If kids can say tyrannosaurus-rex then they can say big words.”

Introducing big words isn’t just adorable, but it’s important.

It teaches kids to be confident, competent communicators.

So, we’re using the word seriation.

And we’re using the word circumference.

And we’re using measurement, comparing, shorter, longer, and estimation.

We’re not only using them today with this activity, but we’re using and reinforcing them as often as we can in the future.

Supplies used for preschool apple math: jar, yogurt, roll of string,box of crayons, tape, container of frosting, apple, black Sharpie, tape, and scissors - all lay on a red table.

Curious about how to introduce big words to little humans?

Here’s an example of how I would introduce the word seriation.

Me: “Let’s look at all of the strings we measured with. Are they all the same size?”

Kids: “No!”

Me: “Correct! Let’s line them up from shortest to longest. I am looking for the shortest string. Does anyone see the shortest one?

*kids point to the shortest one*

Me: “Excellent, here it is! Okay, let’s now find the next shortest one. We are going to line them all up from the shortest to longest. When we do something like this, it’s called ‘seriation.’ We are going to ‘seriate’ the strings.”

A hand holds a piece of cut string taut above the other supplies.

How do you teach preschool measurement?

Activities like this are fantastic for introducing preschool measurement!

It’s important to incorporate standard units of measurement (think inches, ounces, feet) and non-standard units of measurement (think yarn, blocks, pompoms).

Measurement activities are a blast with kids!