Classroom Food Lesson-Apples

Believe it or not, even though every aspect of my work has to do with teaching people about feeding children well or actually teaching children how to eat well, I still enjoy volunteering my spare time doing the same thing. What can I say, I'm passionate! I believe that schools are a great place to teach children about food, cooking, and eating well, and when it can be woven into curriculum it really works well for everyone. 

Recently I taught an apple lesson in my daughter's kindergarten class. They have been doing a unit of study on "Old Days, New Days." As part of this I offered to do a lesson on apples in which we  would talk about heirloom apples, taste them, vote on our favorites, and finish the process of making applesauce with a food mill. Because there was no cooking equipment at the school I started the applesauce at home but took pictures to show the students. I am hoping to get money from the incredibly supportive PTA at our younger daughters' school to purchase an induction burner that anyone can use for classroom cooking in the future.

If you are interested in teaching a food lesson in your child's classroom, get on it! Below I have included the components of my kindergarten apple lesson. But first here some tips:

1. Always make sure that your child's teacher wants you to come in and do a lesson. It could be that they need your help in other areas first.

2. Team up with another parent or two and meet or email to discuss a plan.

3. Be organized! Agree on a start and end time with your child's teacher and stick to it. Students have busy days and they need to stay on schedule.

4. Write yourself a timeline. You will get distracted once you are in there teaching a lesson. Refer to your timeline to help you keep moving. Review this timeline with the teacher before the lesson takes place.

5. Keep it simple. For this particular class I had three stations: applesauce milling, tasting and voting, writing describing words. Afterwards we recap and that's it.

6. Make sure you have help. This could come from the teacher, an aide, another parent, or even a resource teacher in the school. Ask your child's teacher who will be around to help.

7. If you cooked, provide a recipe that can be sent home. This may need to be approved or modified so don't take it personally if it gets changed a bit or is not sent home at all.

All but the milling picture was done and photographed at home on the morning of the lesson day.

I was able to buy beautiful local "seconds" apples at Maple Avenue Market in Vienna, VA. I love supporting this local business whenever I can and the owners are awesome!

This picture was taken after the tasting but here are the components. If you make signs be sure to use the same handwriting that would be expected of your child. I printed the lined paper at home and wrote the words that I needed. My daughter's teacher drew up a quick graph where students could vote by writing their names under their favorite apple.

 I found a free clip art picture of apples online and made these sheets. I printed one copy at home and made more copies at school.

Here's the letter I typed up that got sent home:

"On Wednesday our class made applesauce using a food mill like it was done in the Old Days. Everyone got a chance to turn the food mill and help make the applesauce. We also tasted three different heirloom apples and voted on our favorite. We described how apples look, taste, sound, feel, and smell. Here is the recipe we used for our applesauce if you want to make it at home.

Homemade Applesauce

Select your apples.

Visit a farmer’s market and ask for “seconds,” “culls,” or “drops.” These are imperfect-looking apples that are perfect for applesauce! Choose sweet apples and a mix of types is preferable. Here is where I got my apples.

Wash and chop the apples.

Plain water in the sink is fine, nothing fancy. Chop the apples, or use a corer/slicer and add them to a large pot, peel, seeds, core, and all.

Cook the apples.

Put about 1 inch of water on the bottom of the pot. Put the lid on, and the heat on medium-high.  If the water comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook until the apples are soft.

Strain the cooked apples.

The easiest way to do this is by using a food mill. Spoon the cooked apples into the mill and turn the handle. The seeds, skin, and core will separate. Compost the debris.

Season the applesauce.

Add ground cinnamon to season your applesauce. Vanilla is nice, too. You do not need to add ANY sugar to the applesauce. Serve warm or cool."

And there you have it! Yes, there is some work involved but this same lesson could be used for every classroom at the Kindergarten level and easily adjusted for younger or older children. To simplify you could remove any one (or two) of the activities.

I'd love to hear how you are bringing fresh and healthy food to your child's school-please share!

Peace and Health, 

christy