Green, red, yellow, crunchy, sweet, delicious. Did you know, China produces the largest number of apples? Closely followed by the United States, with Washington state boasting over 90% of the organic apple market. The University of Illinois apple facts, states that 2,500 apple varieties are grown in the US and 7,500 are grown throughout the world.
Oh, the Lord is good to me, And so I thank the Lord, For giving me the things I need; The sun and the rain and the apple seed. The Lord is good to me.
Johnny Appleseed Grace Song
Apples are full of fiber and antioxidants, and although the old saying, “An apple a day, keeps the doctor away,” has not been proven, current research does suggest that an apple ,” may help keep the pharmacist away, ” a win! (Association Between Apple Consumption and Physician Visits).
This project started with a drawing of one apple in Freya’s amazing Procreate Masterclass , which inspired tackling more varieties of this juicy fruit.
Multiple apples led to the idea to design a counting video for kids using a variety of apple illustrations. Since numbers can be intimidating, emphasizing having fun with them is a low=pressured way to introduce Pre-K to counting 1-10. The video targets learning standards in Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade. Common Core Standards: CCSS K.CC.3, CCSS. K.CC.4a, CCSS K.CC.4b, CCSS.K.CC.4c, CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.5.
Originally, I laid out this video as a reel, and had I storyboarded from the beginning I could have saved a significant amount of time, as it quickly became apparent that the vertical orientation would not be conducive to displaying numbers to matching items. While an adult learner could grasp counting 10 different varieties of apples, a pre-k learner would be served better by seeing the corresponding items with number. Another hard-fought lesson.
Finally, the recording is fast, which was challenging and limiting in After Effect, not to mention, it does not follow the advice that the words need to stay on screen long enough to be able to say it, out loud three times. However, it does offer a fun, authentic, and catchy counting with apples sequence that I couldn’t resist designing to.
So for now, I am leaning into the beautiful Lauren Hom’s advice to keep working those creativity muscles! Hom insist that you learn something from every project, and you must, “keep making and keep doing!” Are we noticing a theme here yet? 😉
Stay tuned, one would think I would be *done* with apples, however, I may still create a little something in the spirit of Dr. Lustig’s, Eat Real campaign, emphasizing the health benefits of these little beauties. Personally, I am a Honeycrisp girl, but with five grams of fiber, whichever apple is the best, is the one that you pick!
P.S. Don’t peel your apple! 70% of the fiber and most of antioxidants are found in the peel! 🙂
THE PROCESS:
Music: Soundstripe: Reveille, High in the Sky Instrumental
*I apologize Mr. Brendan St. Gelais, your music is much better than this video, but I really appreciate the free download an had so much fun listening to it! xo
Narration: Author, Shanna Sissell
Fonts for Kids: https://www.e-learnconnect.com/post/the-10-best-child-friendly-fonts-for-kids
Font: https://www.dafont.com/search.php?q=National+First+Font
Text Revel Technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR_c0CxXVkE
nikolaidesigns 
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