FUN WITH APPLES
Children learn with their whole bodies. They learn through their sense of sight, smell, feel, taste and sound. By bombarding their sensory systems with a concept, we stand a much better chance of succeeding in helping them to learn. For example, if you want to teach the child to identify the letter “A” bombard his/her sensory system with the letter “A”, by sight, smell, feel, taste and sound.
SIGHT – Show them the letter “A” in upper and lower case. Read them a book with words that start with the letter. Show them objects that have a name starting with the letter “A”, for example apple. You could extend the sight learning by taking the children to an apple orchard that you could plan a field trip to. The visual of apples growing on a tree and the stimulation of being able to choose your own apples is a fantastic tool to help children really learn “A is for apple.” If you are unable to take the children to an orchard, you go on one yourself and pick several types of apples. Take pictures to share the experience with the children.
SMELL – Have them close their eyes and smell apples freshly peeled or sliced. We cook with apples in them and experience the smell of hot apples cooking or baking.
FEEL – We serve apple slices, whole apples (to older children who would be able to bite and chew them with no choking danger), applesauce, apple muffins and apple pancakes. We discuss the different textures the apple has in each of these apple foods.
TASTE – We discuss and experience different apple tastes. You could even chart the taste experiences.
SOUND – Teach apple songs or nursery rhymes. Ex.
Two Little Apples way up high in the apple tree, (hold up your arms high)
Two little apples smiled at me.
I shook that tree as hard as I could. (Hold your hands together in front of you)
And down came the apples,
Ummmmm they were good. (Rub your tummy and lick your lips).
Our goals in teaching young children are to make learning fun and to help the child make sense of his/her world. They learn there are many types of apples, when we let them sample a variety.
If learning is made more of a game it does not become a power struggle to try varieties of foods.
It becomes pleasurable to the child when they are having fun with activities and recipes and food tasting tests.
Roxys has a pre-mixed scoop and bake muffin called apple cinnamon muffins. These muffins are delicious and help the provider when she is deciding how much time do you have available for preparation. The children can see the chunks of apples in the muffins and scoop into muffin tins. Watch them bake and eat them warm and enjoy.
