Apple Crafts for Kids

Getting Your Apples

Add to the fun of making apple crafts for kids by visiting a local apple farm. If you don't know where one might be, check out Apple Journal's list. Double check the hours before you go.

Going to where the apples are grown and picking your own helps kids to see where food comes from. You can learn about the apples and see how they are grown. Depending on the orchard, you may also be able to see cider being made or other fun apple activities.

Foodie Crafts with Apples

If you've gone to the trouble to pick your own apples, you're going to want to eat some of them. Besides eating them raw, there are several simple food apple crafts for kids to help you with. Apple pie is an obvious one, but for the instant gratification crowd there's applesauce.

Applesauce

Making applesauce is so easy you don't really even need a recipe for it. You can make applesauce with as few or as many apples as you like. Core and slice the apples, peeling them if you like, and add them to a saucepot. Add a little water to help keep the apples from sticking.

If you want, add some white or brown sugar to give the apples a sweeter flavor, but if you're using good fresh apples this isn't necessary. You can also add cinnamon or other spices if you like.

Cook on medium low heat, stirring regularly, until the apples are nice and mushy. You can also do this in the microwave by cooking the apples on high in a covered dish for about 10 minutes.

Apple Crafts for Kids

Did you know you can use an apple as a stamp? Just cut the apple in half, cover the cut side with paint and press it on paper or fabric to stamp the shape.

The best apple crafts for kids using real apples, however, need dried apples to be completed. That's because if you want your craft to last more than a few days, you need to get the moisture out.

Slice the apples, put them on a cookie sheet and bake in a 150-200 degree oven for about six hours or until completely dried out. This will make the slices come out brown. For a cleaner yellow color, soak the slices in the juice of a couple of lemons for about 10 minutes before putting them in the oven. The acid will help keep them from turning brown.

To spruce up your dried apples, sprinkle them with a fall spice mixture of cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Then the apple pieces will smell nice in your crafts, and your house will smell wonderful for hours while you're drying the apples.

Dried apples can be used in potpourri, made into a necklace (core the apples before drying if you want to go this route), or used in many home décor projects.

A large stand of apple slices can make a simple wreath. You can also attach dried apple pieces to a grapevine wreath along with some acorns, fall-colored leaves sprayed with clear spray varnish and a fall-themed ribbon for a very cute wreath.

Apple Crafts Without Apples

Of course you can also make apple crafts for kids that don't actually involve real apples. A wreath made of apples cut out of construction paper is a cute and easy craft that would help little ones practice their cutting skills.

A cute "apple" canister can be made out of a terra cotta pot along with its draining plate. Paint both pieces red. The plate part will sit on the rim of the pot, like a lid. A little piece of raffia and some fake leaves on top help finish the craft.

Check your local craft store for wooden or papier-mâché apples that can be painted, decoupaged, covered with beads or just about anything else you want. You can even find flat wooden apple shapes that would be very cute painted and glued to a small chalkboard or picture frame and given as a teacher appreciation gift..