Apple picking season is upon us! We headed to nearby Vulcan Apple Farm in Julian CA early in the morning for some homeschool U-Pick awesomeness, Covid style.

Apple picking is a yearly expedition for us. We’ve gone every year with our twins since they were old enough to strap into a Baby Bjorn. Over the years we’ve learned some tips – these are the best ones: Apple Farm Field Trip Tips.

This year I was a little nervous though. With my Cystic Fibrosis we have been very isolated at home and hesitant to go most places. I know everyone feels different about this, but personally with inconsistent mask wearing in San Diego I don’t feel comfortable venturing out a lot. Apple picking seemed like a naturally distant activity though so I decided to give it a try.

However, if you don’t feel comfortable venturing to your area farm or you don’t have one close enough, this Apple Orchard post from The Educator’s Spin On It has a great collection of virtual field trip experiences related to Apple Farms.

affiliate links may be included below.

Field Trip Prep

The night before I prepped for our Apple Farm field trip. I packed and prepped:

• Snacks for the car and for a small picnic.
• Cash (needed to purchase some things at the farm)
• Loaded a new audiobook for the kids to listen to on the ride (we listened to The One and Only Ivan)
• Made sure we had face masks for each of us (required by the farm!)
• Sunscreen (this has been my favorite for a while now!)
• Made sure the car had gas

Apple Picking Vulcan Apple Farm in Julian CA

Vulcan Apple farm is located in Julian CA about an hour from San Diego. There are quite a few farms in Julian, but Vulcan is one of the biggest and had taken precautions for Covid19 this year.

We visited Vulcan Apple farm last year as well and it was largely the same experience. The main difference is that face masks are required for visiting to pick apples right now. I hope they are good about enforcing this so people like me can continue to feel comfortable enjoying apple season.

When we visited it was early in the morning on a Friday. There were definitely people there but nothing like we’ve seen on the weekends in previous years. If you’re worried about social distancing then I highly recommend a weekday morning. Heading into the farm, the line was spaced out, everyone was wearing a mask, and the attendants taking money avoiding any contact.

Vulcan Apple Farm has plenty of apples in several different varieties. We had zero problems filling our apple bags.

After we were done picking apples, we bought apple cider from their stand (cash only!) which was cold and delicious. We drank it and ate a snack at one of the picnic tables. Because there were so few people this again was easy to do while maintaining plenty of distance. If it were busier we would have brought the cider back to the car.

Then we headed home, via Julian Pie Co, with all of our apples.

Quick Farm Facts:
Vulcan Apple Farm
Julian, CA
Facebook Page
$12/bag (Cash or Credit)
$1 if you want to enter but not pick.
Military Discount Available

Other Farm Recommendations:

• Afton Apple Farm in Minnesota
• Alstede Farm in New Jersey
• 31 Apple Farms in NJ PA DE MD from One Day in Our Shoes

Apple Activities to do at Home

Back at home, there are so many apple themed ways to delve into whatever your learning goals are right now. Below are some of our favorites for ages 5 through 10 or Kindergarten through fifth grade.

Cooking with Apples (and Kids!)

• Apple Oat Cookies from Goodie Goodie Lunchbox
• Apple Pancakes from Healthy Little Foodie
• Apple Pancakes from Crafty Mom Share
• Apple Pie Bliss Bits from Goodie Goodie Lunchbox
• Caramel Apple Nachos from Taste Galaxy
• Cinnamon Apple Peels from Mama Smiles
• Easy Instant Pot Apple Caramel Cheesecake from Taste Galaxy
• Mini Apple Pies Recipe from The Educator’s Spin On It
• Nut Free Apple and Sunflower Seed Muesli Bars from Goodie Goodie Lunchbox
• Orange Flavored Applesauce from Mama Smiles

Arts and Crafts

• Apple Picking Read and Create from My Storytime Corner
• Apple Stamping Pumpkins Craft from The Crazy Outdoor Mama
• Pop Art Apple Coloring printable from Art with Jenny K
• Printable Letter A Crafts from Fun With Mama

Reading and Writing

• 6 Free and Fun Apple Themed Printables from Homebound but Hopeful
• Apple Farm Storytime with Apple Song Printable from My Storytime Corner
• Antonym Apples printable game from The Speech Bubble
• Apple Adjectives activity
• Free Printable Apple Worksheets from The Keeper of Memories
• Great Apple Themed Picture Book Recommendations and other fun apple themed activities on Crafty Mom Share
• Parts of an Apple Read and Color Printable Book from JDaniel4’s Mom

STEM

• Apples vs. Ball Stem Experiment
• Apple Taste Test with Editable Printables and Place Cards from JDaniel4’s Mom
• Apple Tasting Fun with Printable from Hopebound but Hopeful
• Types of Apples printable pack from Mrs. Hansen’s Helpfuls I put this under Science, but this is an awesome large pack that covers a lot of curriculum areas.

Also Read: Fall Unit for K and First Grade

After returning from our Fall Nature Hike, our little ones were excited about leaves. My son in particular recounted for me several times how he stood under the tree and the wind blew and then the leaves fell down. Some even landed on him and this of course was the highlight of his tale.

I of course immediately set about gathering books about Fall.

One of my favorites that addresses his particular interest very well is Leaves by David Ezra Stein. It is a darling book about a little bear experiencing his first Fall.

On our art table, we started with these simple Drawing Prompts.

We sat down at the table with cups of crayons and paper with my very basic tree outlines and created. As we colored (yup, I joined in this time scribbling away on my tree) we chatted about what colors we were using.

Here are some questions you could ask:

*Tell me about the colors on your tree.
*Hmmm…is that a darker orange or a lighter orange?
*What colors were the leaves we saw on the tree outside/at the park/on our hike?

You can also do a little self talk, which yes feels a little silly until you get used to it, but is an excellent way to model your thought process and language.

Try:

*This red looks very dark…I think I might try this lighter shade.
*I have lots of orange on my tree. I might add some yellows too like the tree we saw outside.
*Hmm…I’m trying to remember where the leaves were on the tree. I might check this photo/book to remind myself.

Our twins are developing language, learning colors, and using fine motor skills to grip and maneuver their crayons, but we are also just creating, and chatting, and sipping tea.

Want Weekly Adventure Inspired Learning Ideas?
Subscribe Below