Apple Orchard Virtual Field Trip for Preschool

Social studies for preschool children is all about exploring ME and MY World. Looking into our refrigerator, you will see apples, apple sauce, and apple juice. Red apples, yellow apples, green apples. It doesn’t matter, because my kids LOVE apples!!! They are part of our every day experiences. So how did the apples get to our fridge?

Let’s explore with these hands-on, fun Preschool Apple Theme Activities.

Child picking apples at Apple Orchard as part of field trip to Apple Packing Facility

Apple Orchard Theme Activities for Virtual Field Trip

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This week, our playful preschool theme is all about APPLES! In addition to making an apple tree sight word and counting apples, we are taking a closer look at the trip our apples took from the orchard to our table. Affiliate links. The first thing we did was…

A hands-on playful preschool activity. Social Studies lesson about apples.

WATCH: Take a Virtual Tour of an Apple Orchard and Packing Facility

Have you ever thought about how apples get from the farm to the table? This activity combines social studies and technology for preschoolers. It allows them to visualize what happens at a packing facility.

Apples travel from the orchard to a packing facility, to a storage unit, to the store, and finally – your home!

Virtual Apple Orchard Tours for Kids

CLICK HERE for 50+ VIRTUAL Field Trips for Kids

What happens at an apple orchard?

First, the apple trees are grown.
In the spring blossoms form on the trees.
Then, these blossoms turn into small apples.
As time progresses, these apples grow and ripen.
Then, starting in July, apples are harvested.
Finally, the harvest continues as different apple varieties are ripe.

See how one family farm harvests the different varieties.
(This video is nice, but long for my preschooler. We watched just a portion to see how the trees and harvest looked like)

What happens at an apple packing facility?

First, the apples are weighed
They are put on a convener.
They are rinsed with heated chlorinated water.
They are put on a rolling convener.
The apples are sprayed with water and food safe soap.
They are dried with a fan.
Wax is applied.
Apples run through a drier.
Apples are hand sorted.
They run through a color and size sorter.
Stickers are applied to tell consumers what type of apple they are.
Apples are placed in trays or bags.
The trays and bags are put in boxes.
The boxes are then moved to a storage facility.

Here is a video that shows this process. WARNING – my kids wanted to watch this over and over and over again. You may want to set a limit of how many times they can watch it BEFORE you hit play!

Some apples are used to make other products such as apple sauce, apple juice, or even apple cider.

Learn How Apple Cider Is Made

Tour a Carlson Orchards Apple Cider Packing Facility
A variety of apples are used to make apple cider such as the Eastern Red Delicious and Macintosh apples. See the process and equipment that is used to press and process the apples.

Vocabulary words:
Press: A machine that squeezes the juice out of apples
Pasteurization: the process of killing bacteria in the food
Gallon: a unit of measurement for liquid volume

How many minutes does it take to bottle 1,000 gallons of apple cider at this facility?
<hint pay close attention at 3:15>

Let’s go to an Apple Orchard

Make a Model of the Path and Apple Takes from Orchard to Table.

Orchard to Packing Facility to Storage to Store to Your Home

How to Make an apple orchard.

Materials Needed For Apple Orchard

Directions for making an apple tree orchard

1. First, adults prepare 4 rectangles for the tree trunks using the thin cardboard from the empty cereal box. Wrap them into a cylinder shape and tape for the trunk. Cut circles with the remaining cereal box. Hole punch several times close together to get a hole big enough for the pom pom to fit. This irregular shape will help hold the pom pom apples in the tree.

2. Nest, set the circles out for the child to paint green.

3. Then, when dry, assemble the trees. Cut 2 small notches into the tops of each cylinder and slide the circle tree together.

4. Finally, build the store, packing facility, storage unit and home. Use bricks, blocks or any other household materials.

Play

Re-enact the path that apples take to get from the orchard to your home. Have your child show you how the apples get from the orchard to their table at home.