If you want to encourage healthy eating habits, these fun apple facts for children may just do the trick! Whether just for fun or for learning, discovering interesting apple facts for kids will help you have a new appreciation for this delicious fruit.
Fun Apple Facts for Children
To get your child to consume the minimum requirement of five cups of fruit per day, teach and quiz him on these fun apple facts for kids! Learning about the history and lore behind the amazing apple will not only build appreciation for the fine fruit but also encourage him to seek out an assortment of variations to find which apple and flavors strike his fancy during snack time.
Basic Apple Facts
With their origin found somewhere between the Black and the Caspian Sea, today the apple is grown throughout the world and is actually a member of the rose family. In the United States alone, the apple is grown in every state, with Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Washington leading the pack for yummy and juicy varieties.
While the apple is almost always associated as a deep red shiny fruit, there are many types that bear their own unique texture, flavor, and color. While apple trees are growing and maturing year round, the apple fruit is harvested in the late summer and early fall months from August thru October, making this special fruit a favorite addition to autumn meals, pies, and Halloween treats.
Fun Apple Trivia and History
While there are plenty of legends and lore surrounding this biblically noted fruit, the following facts make the world of the apple even more fascinating:
- 6 There are over 7,500 apple varieties grown worldwide. Depending on local market availability, there's plenty of different tastes and textures!
- While apple growers favor dwarf varieties for ease of picking, some apple trees can tower at 40 feet.
- The most popular apple varieties include Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji, Gala, and the Golden Delicious.
- A bushel of apples weighs in at a whopping 42 pounds.
- While you may refrigerate apples, a room temperature apple will ripen almost 10 times faster.
- In the Colonial time period, the apple was referred to as the "melt in your mouth" fruit.
- Unlike many machine-harvested fruits and veggies, every apple picked is still harvested by hand.
- George Washington grew and pruned his own apple trees in his spare time!
- A medium apple packs only 80 calories, making this heart-healthy handheld meal a winner!
- The largest apple ever picked weighed in at a whopping three pounds.
Nutrition Facts
Apples are a delicious and healthy treat that kids and adults alike enjoy. Check out their nutritional information:
- Apples have anywhere from 50 to 100 calories depending on their size.
- They are about 86 percent water.
- Apples have about 10 grams of sugar.
- Americans eat about 44 pounds of apples a year per person.
How Apples Grow
After an apple seed is planted, it can take up to eight years to produce fruit. Apple trees can live for up to 100 years! Check out this video by Life For Beginners on the apple's life cycle:
Unique Apple Facts
Some surprising apple facts include:
- If you toss an apple into a body of water, it will float.
- It takes about 10 years for an apple to grow from a seed to a fully matured fruit.
- Gala apples are the most popular in the United States.
Another interesting fact: apples float! Find out why in this informative video:
Make an Apple Feast
While an apple in itself can make a meal, you can encourage children to consume more apples by cooking special recipes catering to the fruit. Consider whipping up a fresh batch of homemade applesauce, or take the weekend off to pick fresh apples and dip them in a sweet caramel sauce. Once kids realize how tasty and sweet the apple fruit is, they are bound to be more open to this daily addition to their plate.
