apple activity idea

Up, Up, Up! It's Apple Picking Time by Jody Fickes Shapiro

It rained today. We were stuck inside all day, so we went a little crazy with the apple activities. (I apologize in advance because I have a feeling this is going to be the longest post ever.)

We started out reading the book. I had purchased 5 different varieties of apples at the grocery store earlier this week. Juliet was overcome with excitement when she saw the apples lined up on her little table. Who knew produce could be such a hit?
She picked them all up, we smelled them, and then as I read the story to her, she picked up the kind that was mentioned. (They mention a lot more that I didn't have and that was disappointing to Juliet. She kept saying, "Where's the Winter Banana?" Sorry, kid. Wal-mart doesn't sell those.)

Activity Idea:

The end of the book has a recipe for "Granny's Microwave-Baked Apples" that we tried out. We took our Golden Delicious apple and cut out the core. It said to make the hole as deep as your pinkie finger. Here is Juliet measuring to see if we got it deep enough.
You mix up 1 1/2 tsp brown sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon and pour half of that mixture into the apple.

Place in a bowl and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes.

When it is cooled, pour the rest of the mixture in and microwave again for 25 seconds. Let it cool 5 more minutes and then...

Pour 1/2 cup milk over it and enjoy.
Juliet was so into the whole baking process, the mixing, the pouring, etc...but she took one bite and spit it out. (This is the child who doesn't eat apple sauce because "it tastes too saucy.") She had been happily munching on the apple pieces before we cooked it, but after cooking it, it was too soft for her liking. She likes a crunchy apple, it seems.
After the apple-baking debacle, we decided to make a version of granny's apple picking hat. I cut out some apples from construction paper and let Juliet stick them into the ribbon band on her hat. (We already had this hat, I just got it out of her dress-up drawer.)
This craft was a HUGE success! She wore it all afternoon and kept telling me, "Come on! It's apple-picking time!" We cut up the rest of the apples and enjoyed them for our snack.
Later, (I told you this was crazy long) we "built a word" (Juliet had just finished watching WordWorld) by throwing together letters from three different magnet sets.
Okay, I promise that is it! Hope this inspired some fun ideas for you.