Fun by the Bushels

by

Few things conjure up autumn’s enticing colors and scents like the season’s favorite fruit, the apple. Head outside to one of Kansas City’s fall gems—a local orchard or cider mill—and take home fresh-picked apples for bushels of homemade family fun.

Rotten Apple Smiles

These foul mouths are surprisingly delicious (just don’t tell kids they’re healthy, too).

You need:

  • Red apple, sliced into sixteenths (by an adult)
  • Peanut butter
  • Raisins
  • Marshmallows

Spread peanut butter between two apple slices (lips). Place marshmallows and raisins in-between to form teeth and cavities.

Prickly Porcupine

All you need for this easier-than-apple-pie project are toothpicks and googly eyes. Turn an apple on its side so that its stem is the porcupine’s nose and glue two eyes above it. Insert toothpicks to form spikes.

Shriveled Head Cider

Visit the Louisburg Cider Mill to watch how apple cider is made, and take home a jug to create this creepy concoction.

You need:

  • 2 c. lemon juice
  • 1 T. salt
  • 4 apples 
  • Cloves (for eyes)
  • Rice grains, uncooked (for teeth)
  • 1-2 gal. apple cider

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Mix lemon juice and salt in a bowl. Peel, core and halve apples lengthwise (adult job). Dip apples immediately into lemon juice mixture; blot with paper towels. With a fine-tip marker, draw a face onto the convex side of each apple, and then have an adult carve it out. Dip again into lemon mixture; blot with paper towels. Transfer apples face up onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 80-90 minutes until faces slightly shrivel and edges brown. Push cloves into eye sockets (pupils) and rice into mouths (teeth). Serve shriveled heads in mugs of steamy cider, or place a family of eight bobbing heads in a punch bowl.

Caramel Apple Party

Transform apples into candy coated confections with this create-your-own caramel apple party.

You need:

  • Small apples (wax-free)
  • Popsicle sticks
  • 14 oz. caramels
  • Pans and spoons
  • Cellophane bags and ties
  • Bowls for toppings

Toppings: Chopped nuts; crumbled candy bars; crushed cookies, crackers, pretzels or wafers; granola or trail mix; marshmallows; mini chocolate chips (white and dark); popcorn; sprinkles

Remove stems from apples and insert popsicle sticks into stem side of apples. Over low heat, melt caramels with 2 T. of water, stirring often. Dip apples into caramel, tilting the pan to coat. Spoon preferred toppings immediately over caramel coating. Place apples on a baking sheet lined with greased wax paper and refrigerate. Package in cellophane bags for a take home treat.

Family Apple Tree

Branch off with apple stamps to create this fun family tree.

You need:

  • 30” roll of brown postal wrap paper, cut to 3-1/2 feet
  • Apple, halved lengthwise by an adult
  • Acrylic craft paints: red, green, yellow, white and brown 
  • Paint brush
  • Paper plate (for smearing paints)
  • Black marker

Using green and brown paint, create a rough outline of a tree. With a pencil, plot out where to place apple stamps for each relative in your family tree with a small “x.” Fill a plate with red, yellow, and green overlapping paints. Smear halved apple in paints and stamp onto paper; allow paint to dry. Label apples with family names.

Bocce Bushel Ball

To play this four-person game, gather one yellow, four green and four red apples. Each player takes two apples of their team’s color—red or green. Toss the yellow apple. Next, the green and red teams take turns throwing their apples as close to the yellow apple as possible. The team with the closest apple to yellow wins!

 

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Wendy Connelly is a writer, blogger and sprout-at-home mom of two from Overland Park.