Applesauce in the classroom!

Hello All, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite days of the year. As you know fall is my favorite season, I can't get enough of it! This past Friday I made applesauce in my classroom with my kiddos. This was our final apple project :( It was such great fun and easy too! I did do some pre-planning by having some of my families donate apples and then gathering supplies the night before: What you need: Crock Pot with lid Apples any and all varieties Cinnamon Water Potatoe Masher Cutting board, peeler and knife(with cover for safety) Here is how our lesson progressed: We started by talking about the parts of an apple. I sliced one in half to show the star and discuss the life cycle. I then showed how you peel an apple and allowed the class to try the skin (there were no takers so I tried it myself, I personally love the skin!) We had a short discussion about kitchen safety, not touching knives and being careful of things that are hot. I then diced a few apples and placed a few tablespoons in a bowl with a sprinkle of cinnamon. I gave each child a bowl and a spoon. They stirred the cinnamon in and ate the apples. We talked about the apples being crunchy and sour and what we thought would happen to the apples as they cooked. It takes 3 hours for the full crock pot to cook so I had already started the pot before the kiddos came to school. I opened the crock pot and showed the children from the counter what was cooking. I also instructed them not to come near the counter for the day. I had a full pot of diced appples, 3-4 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1/2 cup of water. I showed the kiddos how to measure the cinnamon and water. When I checked on the applesauce I showed the children how it was breaking down and turning brown. One little guy says, "that looks disgusting, I'm not eating that!" Wouldn't you know that he was the one who ate the most, go figure! I mashed the apples once they were soft and showed the children in a large bowl how I mashed the pieces together. We talked about how our apples had changed and how our applesauce was different than the applesauce from the store. The kiddos were totally engaged and I couldn't believe how much applesauce they ate! We took small cups of applesauce to our friends in the other classes and enjoyed the rest of the day in our cinnamon filled room. Have fun cooking in your classroom! Till next time, Christine