Dried Apples

What You Do:

1. Gather the apples. You can help your child pick good organic apples at any grocery store, or if you have access to an apple tree or orchard, all the better! Parents, check in the yellow pages or with the local extension office for field trip possibilities.
2. Fill a sink or small dishpan with water and put the apples in it.
3. Let your child rinse them, dry them, and place them in a basket.
4. Bring the apples to the table and peel them with your child, using the vegetable peelers. The apples dry more effectively with the skins removed.
5. With the sharp knife, slice the peeled apples horizontally into 1/4" thick slices. Surprise! Notice the star in the center of the apple. Have your child cut around the center to remove the star and seeds. You will end up with apple slices with a round hole in the center.
6. Using pieces of thread about as long as your arm, thread large needles with doubled thread, knotting the thread about three inches from the end.
7. ”Sew” through the first apple slice by going through the center hole and then back through the doubled thread. This will secure the apple by knotting it to the end of the thread.
8. After securing the first apple slice, have your child continue the “sewing.” She can sew right through the apple pulp, slide the slice down toward the last apple slice, and then sew back up through the doubled thread. Leave a bit of space between each slice so that air can circulate between them.
9. Each thread is finished when no more apple slices will fit. Knot the last slice in place as you did the first.
10. Hang the strings of apples in the room to dry. Possible places are from plant hangers, from the harvest wreath (if you have one), from hooks attached to the ceiling, or from a closet pole or a broomstick attached to the ceiling at each end so that it hangs horizontally. This will accommodate lots of strings of drying apples.

Do not hang the apple slices in strong, direct sunlight, as you want the slices to air dry slowly. Also, make sure each slice is separated from the next, so that air can circulate around each slice. If you have lots of slices that are close together, they can get moldy before they're able to dry out. If the slices are slipping together on the string, you may need to adjust them or knot them in place.

In no time at all, you'll have a dried fruit snack to give your child... one she helped make herself. Plus, she'll have gotten a little glimpse into an age-old tradition, and some significant practice stringing apples, fine motor practice that will help her with writing down the road.