December 10th, 2020

An apple!

How do you know it's an apple?
Because they're red (Hugh). A stem (Bea). Sticker! Because it keeps it... (Frannie). ...Fresh and good (Bea).

A discussion about ways to use apples started and turned into a conversation about ingredients. 
Hugh: Eat them. 
Bea: To make something.
Finlay: Like you use them for cupcakes.
Hugh: Soup?
Bea: Maybe pie.
Frannie: We mix them into strawberries. 
Finlay: Bake them! They turn into something.

What can you turn apples into?
​We sometimes eat something made out of apples for snack.
Bea: Apples and pears.
Finlay: Apple sauce!

How could we make apple sauce? 
Finlay: Mash it, and then cook it. Then put it in a bottle and you gotta write apple sauce on it.
Bea: We need to cut it.

Apple sauce is one of the Brown Room's favorite snack. Last week during snack time the children finished a big jar of apple sauce and we showed the children that the container is empty. Finlay responded with:

"When you're all out of apple sauce you can MAKE more apple sauce."

That inspired the class to make their own apple sauce one day....

​In order to make our apple sauce today every child used a cutting board and a plastic knife to cut apple slices into smaller chunks. The apples got precut with a special apple cutter into eight slices. We noticed that that equaled to one slice for each child in the Brown Room. Basic math concepts are being explored during cooking and food preparation, such as measuring, counting, volume (is a bowl empty or full? How much more can we fit in it?), size and proportion. 
​Before we started to cut our apples we discussed questions about food preparation and safety, how to use a knife safely and how to handle apples that accidentally fell to the floor (yes, you guessed it, they had to go into the trash).
The children cut their slice into smaller pieces before transferring it into a bowl in the middle of the table. In the end, this bowl got emptied into the crock pot where to apples got cooked in. Sequencing and understanding the reason behind it, is an important part of the process.

"This piece is too big." (Hugh, noticing a bigger piece of apple in the bowl and taking it back out to cut it a little smaller because the chunks had to be small enough for them to cook down in the crock pot)

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​While cutting their apples children worked on their fine motor skills. Cutting fresh apples (especially with the peel on) requires strength and precise movements. The children quickly noticed different ways in which they could use the knife as a tool, e.g. pushing the knife down and moving it in a back and forth motion. 

In order to fill up our big crock pot many apples had to get cut. The children showed a great amount of focus and follow-through during this project. Everyone proudly announced to the rest of the group when they finished cutting their slice and quickly asked for another one. 

Everyone was excited about what our apple sauce would taste and look like in the end. Of course we tasted some of the apples in the process but also worked on our impulse control. It can be so hard to not just eat the apple that is right in front of you... This also requires foresight and the understanding of the process and desired outcome. 
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​In the end we added the rest fo the ingredients - turbinado and white sugar, water and cinnamon.
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​We mixed it all together, turned on the crock pot, closed the lid and now it was time to wait for our apples to cook....

Hugh made sure to get every bit and last drop out of his bowl.

​When it was time to eat snack, the classroom (and really all of St. John's ...) smelled deliciously like apple sauce. Even though the apples weren't soft enough yet to be smooth apple sauce, it still tasted absolutely fantastic!

Mmmh! It's juicy! - Hugh

This apple sauce tastes great, Sam! - Cape

Mmmh, I love it! - Lily

Did you like it? - Lily asking Michael,
who sat across the table from her

You've got to try the apples, Ines! - Finlay
​(later he also invited Molly and Jessica to try the apple)

What a great reward for all our hard work this morning!
And we made enough apple sauce to also fill up two jars for Victor and his mother Lucilla, as a part of their holiday present. Just like Finlay suggested during Morning Meeting ("Then put it in a bottle and you gotta write apple sauce on it.").
​Fantastic job, Brown Room!