EW PALESTINE — Andrew Maple took the straw and placed it into the core of the carved-out apple filled with milk and blew hard, creating a lava flow of milk bubbles.
Andrew, a fourth-grader at New Palestine Elementary School, enjoyed learning about apples, because the honey crisp variety is his favorite fruit, he said.
He and other area youngsters learned several lessons about apples and experimented with them during a special session on Johnny Appleseed at the Hancock County Public Library, Sugar Creek Branch.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
In Honor of Johnny (John Chapman) Appleseed’s birthday Sept. 26, Diana Boss, children’s library specialist, put together a fun-filled program to share the Johnny Appleseed story. After telling the group of youngsters about the man who brought apple trees to the area, Boss read a book about apples before helping them with several experiments using apples.
The children made apple towers out of blocks and then placed their apple on top and watched Boss as she cut an apple into pieces and placed the slices into cups filled with different liquids to find out how they would react.
They also experimented with carved out apples and conducted a surface tension test with orange juice, milk and straws before they wrapped up the program making apple sauce and dipping sliced apples in caramel.
Boss, a former Beach Grove elementary school educator for 34 years said, the program was designed to help honor Johnny Appleseed, a Massachusetts native, who was an American pioneer nurseryman.
“This was always a core part of my kindergarten program when I was teaching and I love sharing it with the kids,” Boss said.
From candy apples to apple juice, the youngsters are very thankful to have learned about the man who planted the first apple seeds in the state to give them so many delectable treats, they said.
