Hobbies And Interests
Paper Picking
If you can’t make it out to an orchard, try a paper apple tree instead. This activity works best for a group, such as in a classroom, but it can be done by any number of children. Have every child cut an apple from a sheet of construction paper. Use red, yellow, and green paper to add interest to the tree, or use a single color to make it more realistic.
Each player cuts his apple into five or six pieces then places all the pieces into an envelope. Draw a tree on the board, create one for the bulletin board or let your child make one from a large sheet of butcher paper or newsprint and hang it on the wall. Use tape to attach each envelope to the different branches, filling the branches with apple puzzles for the players to pick. If there are not many children playing, let each child create several apple puzzles. Once the branches are full, let everyone go to the tree and pick an apple. Children can either race each other or the clock to see who can put his apple together the fastest. When the apple puzzle is complete, tape it together and hang the finished apple back on the tree.
How Many?
This game is suitable for an adult and a small child to play outside. Take several baskets or other containers of different sizes with you to an apple tree. Let your child place them in any order he likes, such as lining them up from smallest to largest. Pick one apple from the tree and let your child hold it. Ask your child to guess many apples each container will hold, then pick large apples and let the child put them in the containers. See how close the guess was for each container. Empty all of the containers into one larger basket and try the game again. Let the child guess how many again, and this time pick all small apples for him to place. The number each holds should be different. Let your child guess why. If he isn’t sure, have her line up five small apples and five large ones next to each other. Help him test how the size affects how many apples will fit into a container.
If you have more than one child, liven up this guessing game by giving each child one or two containers to fill. Let them race each other to fill their baskets or have all the kids race the clock for the fastest time.
Apple Juice
Kids can help Juice Moose (JM) pick apples from an online orchard until he has enough to make some apple juice. In this computer game, kids use the mouse to help JM race forward and backward through the orchard, catching the apples that fall from the trees. A player is only allowed to carry one apple in his basket at a time and must place it in a barrel before running back to collect another. As each apple is placed in the barrel, the remaining apples begin to come from the trees more and more quickly. When Juice Moose loses his last life, he has to leave the orchard.