Do You Know Your Apples? Apple Taste Test

How many varieties of apples are there? Too many for me to count, that's for sure. Each apple is unique and special in their own way. Some perfect for snacking, some make great pies. But how do we know which ones to choose? Well, there are many websites and charts out there, and your favorite recipes will often tell you which apple is best suited to produce the best results, but why not take an afternoon to find our very own favorites...using your five senses.

Children are amazed to find that from all the apples in the world, they are very different from each other. We made note of each one and rated our favorites using the sheet below. Click the picture to open a PDF file to print and use for your own apple taste test.
We started by using our sense of site, making notes of any distinctive features. Drawing both the exterior and interior of each apple. We talked not only about color, but about markings, patterns, spots and anything else that was different from each apple.

Then we moved on to smell. We smelled the exterior before smelling the interior. What does it smell like, other than apple...sweet, sour? Does it smell like any other type of fruit that you can think of?

We then used our sense of touch to note any distinctive features of each apple. We started with the exterior then felt the interior. What does it feel like? Smooth, bumpy, slippery, sticky, were all words that came to our little tester.
On to sound. Can you hear an apple? Ask your child just that and see what she says. What if you knock on the apple? What sound does it make? When you cut each apple, what sound does it make? What about when you take a bite of the apple? What sound does it make? What creative ways can you think of to make an apple a musical instrument?

Finally we moved on to the fun part, the tasting! We used our sense of taste to note the distinctive features of each apple. What differences did we find? Sweet vs. sour, which were more sweet and which were more sour.

When we were all finished tasting with our senses, we rated each apple, 1 to 5. 1 apple being our least favorite, 5 being our most favorite.

We tested 5 different varieties. My favorite was the Ambrosia, M's was the Golden Delicious.

Try it at home. A fun way to learn about apples, and makes a yummy and healthy afternoon snack!

Learn more about apple varieties www.orangepippin.com/apples