Food Purchasing Fun Food Activities
Visit to the Farmers’ Market –
Autumn is for Apples
Purpose
• To help children learn that farmers grow foods
• To help children learn that foods are brought to a market or store to sell
• To help children experience a variety of apples
• To reinforce ideas of being clean and careful when preparing food
Snack Note: This activity can qualify for a Child and Adult Care Food Program
(CACFP) reimbursable snack when 1/2 cup of apple slices is paired with a serving
of another component food group. The supplies listed for this activity are for the
apple portion of the snack only.
NOTE: Follow policies for
setting up a field trip for children,
including necessary permission
slips, additional adult supervision,
and other safety measures.
Supplies needed (for tasting
party after the visit)
• Apples from the market,
enough to provide a bite-size
sample for each child
Ed’s Farm and
Farmers’ Market
• Plates
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Food Purchasing Fun Food Activities
Visit to the Farmers’ Market – Autumn is for Apples
What to Do Ahead of Time
Call ahead to the farmers’ market. Arrange for someone to speak to the children
about the market or about the variety of apples available at the market.
Read a book about apples and fall harvest to the children. See the suggested
reading list at the end of this lesson for ideas.
Remind the children of safety rules and good manner actions before the visit.
Option: If a visit to a farmers’ market is not possible, create a farmers’ market table
at your center or day care home. Decorate the table area to look like a section of a
farmers’ market. Have an adult dress up and play the farmer’s role.
During the Visit
While at the farmers’ market, point out the wide variety of fresh foods. Talk with
the children about
• the foods,
• the colors of the foods, and
• where the foods are grown - in the ground, on a bush or plant, or in a tree.
Tell the children that the farmers grow the foods on farms. The farmers bring the
foods to the market to sell to other people.
Focus the children’s attention on the apples in the market.
Ask the children how many different
• kinds of apples they see,
• colors of apples they see, and
• other differences the children notice about the apples.
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Food Purchasing Fun Food Activities
Visit to the Farmers’ Market – Autumn is for Apples
Buy a few of each type of apple available. Bag and label each type of apple. Keep
each type separate and easy to identify for a tasting party after the visit.
After the Visit – Apple Tasting Party
Remind the children that we are clean and careful when we work with food.
Have the children wash their hands before the activity.
Tip: Sing the verse about washing hands before helping with the meal from CARE
Connection Food Safety children’s activity on hand washing (Every Day We Wash
Our Hands).
Remind the children that each has washed his or her hands and to please keep their
hands clean. Tell them not to touch their nose, mouth, face, neighbor, or other
objects.
Gather the children around the table with the
apples.
Display each type of apple. If desired, have
one apple of each type that children can touch.
Remind the children that the apples needed to
be washed before slicing and eating (do this
before the tasting party).
Talk with the children about the different
colors and shapes of the apples.
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Food Purchasing Fun Food Activities
Visit to the Farmers’ Market – Autumn is for Apples
Ask the children to guess how each apple type will taste and feel in their mouth.
• Sweet or tart?
• Crunchy or soft?
• Juicy or dry?
Provide a sample of each apple purchased at the farmers’ market.
Serving idea: Serve 1/2 ounce of cheddar cheese with a total of 1/2 cup of apple
slices for a reimbursable snack.
Safety Note: Make sure the children eat the apples pieces while seated and chew
carefully. Chunks of raw apple can be a choking hazard for young children.
Suggested Reading List
Apples by Gail Gibbons, ©2000, Holiday House, NY.
Explains how apples are brought to America, how they grow, their traditional uses
and cultural significance and some of the varieties.
Fall is here! I love it! by Elaine W. Good and illustrated by Susie Shenk Wenger,
©1990, New paperback edition 1994, Good Books, Intercourse, PA.
A young child enjoys the sights, colors, tastes, and smells as fall comes to the
family farm.
Red are the apples by Marc Harshman and Cheryl Ryan and illustrated by Wade
Zahares, ©2001, First Voyagers Books Edition 2007, Voyager Books Harcourt,
Inc., Orlando, FL
Leads the reader through a bountiful vegetable garden in autumn while drawing
particular attention to the variety of colors.
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Food Purchasing Fun Food Activities
Visit to the Farmers’ Market – Autumn is for Apples
Up up up it’s apple picking time by Jody Fickes Shapiro and illustrated by Kitty
Harvill, ©2003, Holiday House, NY.
Myles and his family go to his grandparents’ apple ranch where they have a
wonderful time picking and selling apples together.
For a resource on the different varieties of apples, visit the Washington apples Web
site at www.bestapples.com/varieties/index. Retrieved 11-01-2008.
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