Easy as Apple Pie

For at least half of our day, until about noon, we've been enjoying some fall-ish weather here in Arizona.  Each year, as fall approaches, I wait eagerly for apple time to come.  No, we don't have apple trees, but we can bring tons of fun apple activities into our classroom.

Among my favorite activities is baking apple pie with the kiddos, it's ridiculously easy and the children get a wonderful sensory experience.  We start apple pie day by reading one of my all-time favorite apple books, The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. 

The best thing about this book is that at the end, there is a recipe for apple pie!  I've used this recipe for all of my apple pies for years and it hasn't failed me once, it's a keeper and easy enough to do with children in a limited amount of time.

After our story, we get to work.  First, we all get a turn with the handy-dandy apple peeler/corer/slicer I picked up at a garage sale for $10.  Ok, so it looks like something out of the middle ages, but the kids LOVE it!

Once we have all those little apple rings, we have to cut them into small pieces, so we use our vegetable choppers and then pop it all into a bowl.

Add some sugar and cinnamon, give it a stir and into the pie crust it goes!  If you want to take a short cut, you can always use a refrigerated pie crust, which works just as well.

After about 45-50 minutes of your home or classroom smelling unbelievably delicious, you finally get to taste your work!

The kids always approve!!









 
In addition to our pie, another big part of our week is uncovering the 'secret' inside of the apple.  We recite this apple poem at circle time to build the mystery:

Apple Secrets
by Betty Jones

Who would think an apple
Red, gold, or green and round
Would have a secret deep inside
When cut it can be found!
I thought this secret only shone
In deep and darkest night
But when I cut my apple
It shines with five points bright!
And now you know the secret
Where shinning stars are found
In every crunchy apple
Red, gold, or green and round. 

If the children are listening, they can figure out what the 'secret' is, but more often than not, they just get more and more excited until we finish out our apple theme with this Apple Story.

After we've finally discovered the secret inside of the apple, we make apple stamps to take home so our families can share in all of our new apple knowledge!

Have you done any fun apple activities this fall with your kiddos??