Fall is my favorite season. I love the subtle changes in the lighting and the cooler weather. Every year I look forward to September and bringing out my apple activities.Tomorrow we will be making applesauce as part of our Johnny Appleseed celebration. Although Johnny Appleseed Day isn't until Monday, we usually do special activities on Fridays. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, this year we'll be making it on Thursday. I can't wait! The room smells so good as the apples simmer in the electric skillet. The kids love the little machine that cores, peels and slices the apples into rings. They enjoy cutting up the apple rings in to smaller pieces after they come off the machine. I give them each a plate and a serrated plastic knife and they do a terrific job cutting with those little knives. Afterward I add the apple pieces to the skillet. While the children wait for their turn at the applesauce table, I provide other apple-related projects to keep them entertained. I found a Johnny Appleseed puppet over 20 years ago in one of the lesser-known classroom magazines. (I only wish I could remember which one!) It's really cute. I give the kids one of those teeny tiny bags one size down from lunch-sized. They color, cut and glue the pieces, et voila--they have a puppet! The smaller bags stay on their little hands so much better than those awkward lunch bags, and it's also a nicer fit for the puppet pieces. Click here to get your copy. (I hope I'm not infringing on somebody's copyright.)
We always eat our applesauce at the end of the day. As my contented little ones snack on their delicious treat, they watch the Disney movie about Johnny Appleseed. It was made in 1948, but it's just as charming today as I remember it being when I was a child. This is one of those films that Disney releases for a short time and then returns to their vault for several years before re-releasing. If you're interested in finding a copy, hop on over to amazon.com asap as they currently have it in stock.
How do you celebrate September?
Couldn't get the puppet. It said I don't have permission! Thanks for sharing the Legends link, I want to get one.
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Oh! Thanks for the info. This is all so confusing to me. Were you able (or did you try) to get the shapes book?
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