A day out in the orchards picking ripe apples, taking a bite, letting the sweetly tart juice drip down your chin is one of the joys of autumn. After taking the kids on an apple picking field trip, extend the fun by putting together an apple taste test activity to compare different varieties.
This apple taste test helps teach kids the names and characteristics of different apple varieties. Kids become scientists as they use charts and grids to record and evaluate their findings. The experiment is easy to put together and very delicious!
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How to Conduct an Apple Taste Test
This apple activity is great for at-home learning, but can easily be adapted for preschool classrooms when students are working on apple unit lessons.
What you need:
- Muffin tin. Classrooms can use a paper plate for each student.
- Paper divided into columns and rows, a 2nd blank piece of paper
- Pen or pencil
- Stickers in two different colors. We used red and yellow. I love office supply stickers for this purpose. And they are excellent for a variety of projects. We've used them for resist art projects, dot to dots, etc.
- Picture book about apples. We used Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Wallace.
How to set up the apple comparison:
On a sheet of paper draw a grid. Label the first column "apples" and the remaining columns, "sweet," "tart," "crisp," and "soft". Then, write the letters A-F on three sets of red stickers. You may need fewer or more letters, depending on on the number of different apple varieties being tasted.
While you cut up the apples, your child will use the stickers to label everything. Using the A-F red stickers, put a letter sticker on the muffin tin by each cup. Next, put the second set of A-F red stickers down the first column of the grid. Finally, place the third set of A-F red stickers in a single column on a blank piece of paper.
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Place one or two slices of each apple variety in each muffin tin cup. The adult will record which apple corresponds to which letter sticker on the sheet of paper with the single column of red stickers. Keep this paper separate from the testing area, as the names of apple varieties should not be revealed until the testing is complete.
For classrooms, teachers will want to control the labeling so all students have the same code.
How to record taste taste results:
Now, let the tasting begin! As your child takes a bite of each apple, they should record whether they think the variety is either sweet or tart, crisp or soft by placing a yellow sticker in the correct spot on the grid.
When all the testing is completed, reveal which apple was which! Students can compare which apples were enjoyed by the most number of kids!
My son's favorites were Yellow Delicious, Empire and Jonagold.
More fun with apples:
BranFlakes says
Great idea to chart that.
MaryAnne says
I love your taste test activity!
Bona Fide Mama says
Oh, my boy would just love that... he has a thing for bar graphs!
Sarah Slaven says
What a clever idea and one we might copy, my little boy is an apple connoisseur
Anna - Three Sneaky Bugs says
What fun! I'm a big fan of taste tests. (for kids or adults)
Tara from The Magnolia Barn says
Great idea! Taste tests are so much fun.
Erica MomandKiddo says
Thanks, Tara.
Allison says
I love the way you set up the activity. I'll be featuring this on The Sunday Showcase this weekend. Thanks for linking up!
Erica MomandKiddo says
Thanks, Allison!