An Apple a Day: The Apple Orchard and Cider Mill

Kristie, this week’s “Featured Fridays” blogger, can be found  over at Kristie’s Notes

 An Apple a Day: The Apple Orchard and Cider Mill

I thought it might be fun to do lessons about apples with my kiddos, so they could have fun and experiment with apples this fall.

 My original goal was to do something with apples every day of the week for an entire week (the reason for the title ‘An Apple a Day’), then move on to another topic…but with busy lives and unforeseen circumstances arising, it didn’t exactly turn out to be ‘an apple a day’.  That just meant we could spread out the fun a little more!

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.I wanted to start out our fun with apples by visiting an apple orchard, but a trip to the library and the Story Time there actually began our apple adventure.  I’ll tell you more about the library’s Story Time in future posts, but I did want to share a book that we checked out and read about picking apples called “Apple Picking Time” by Michele Benoit Slawson.  It’s about a little girl and her family spending their days picking apples in early fall…a great book to read along with an orchard visit!

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Our local apple orchard was kicking off their season with a kids’ day, so that’s the day we chose to go!

We started off by walking out to the apple trees.  I had originally thought it would be fun to take a wagon ride to the trees, but it was kind of costly.  Thankfully it was a beautiful day for a walk, though! The kids really enjoyed picking apples.  They were super easy for the kiddos to reach and the ‘peck’ size bag filled up quickly!  Quick is always nice for little ones whose attention spans might not be too long yet.

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After the work of picking apples was done, it was time to play!  The orchard had carnival type games and playground equipment for little ones to enjoy.

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Of course we had to get a picture in the orchard’s cut-out too!

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After all the work of picking apples and all the playing, it was time to relax and enjoy some apple cider and apple cider donuts!  YUM!

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Lastly, I thought it would be neat for the kids to be able to see how the cider was made.  Unfortunately the orchard’s cider mill was not open to the public, but there is always YouTube!

We looked up a cider mill video there and we were able to see how cider is made AND how it used to be made!

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Visiting the orchard was just the beginning of our apple fun.

I’ll be sharing more, including some science, baking and crafts with apples over the next three weeks, right here!

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Today’s “Featured Fridays” post, “An Apple a Day: The Apple Orchard and Cider Mill”, was written by Kristie, blog author of  Kristie’s Notes.

Kristie is a Stay at Home Mommy to two beautiful children. She loves veggie gardening, baking crafts and spending time with her precious family.