An Apple Taste Test

Today, instead of preparing a post-nap snack for Miss G as I usually do, I set out this…  A collection of 4 different apples waiting to be observed and tasted. 

I’d prepared for the activity last week while grocery shopping and picked up a granny smith apple, a red delicious one, a gala, and a golden delicious one too.  Just for fun, I used coloured toothpicks and washi tape to make little label flags.  Miss G  was immediately drawn to the colourful tray I’d set out atop one of our shelves and asked me what it was about.  I explained that we were going to investigate some different types of apples and then taste them, and her squeal of excitement let me know that she approved of the plan.

For starters, we just observed the apples.  We talked about their sizes and she pointed them out from smallest to biggest.  We talked about colours and she used phrases like ‘dark red’, ‘orange-y yellowish red’, and ‘speckled’.  We talked about how they felt in regards to texture and temperature and discussed why each apple looked different (her answer was that they  came from different trees ☺).  Lastly, we made some predictions about how they’d taste and which would be our favourites.  Grae was pretty sure she’d like the gala variety best, which was a great prediction as they are the kind I normally buy.

Next up, it was time to slice our apples open.  Gracen elected to slice them horizontally, which allowed us a great view of the star shape hiding inside.  At this point, we chatted again about what we saw and Grae carefully used a toothpick to remove the seeds while she explained that they were ‘tiny’ and ‘brown or brownish blackish’.

Using a small glass dish, Grae safely tucked aside our seeds.

It was then time to get our taste test started, but before I could retrieve our cutting board and knife from the nearby table, she was already munching on the prospective favourite!  Anxious little duckling.

As I chopped one half of each of the apples into small bite-sized bits, Gracen matched them up with the other halves still on the tray.

Then it was time for the real taste test to begin.  We slowly worked our way through the apples, tasting one at a time and sharing our opinions along the way.  According to Grae, the gala was ‘yummy and sweet’, the red delicious was ‘so, SO sweet’, the granny smith was ‘sour and a little bit yucky, but a little bit yummy’, and the golden delicious was ‘very crunchy’.

The verdict?  Gracen declared the red delicious as her very favourite which was interesting as I never buy them and often think of them as the lesser of the apple world (poor red deliciouses – what did they ever do to me?)  Despite galas being a long time favourite of mine, I actually really enjoyed the golden delicious in this group.  With the results as they were, it looks like I’ll be changing up my grocery list for next week!

We had a lot of fun with this simple fall-inspired activity, and Gracen has already requested we do another taste test as soon as possible.  I haven’t figured out what it’ll be yet… Maybe oranges next time?

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