Apple Seed Activity

I hope you and your family had an enjoyable and relaxing spring break! I came across this activity in the book 10-Minute Life Lessons for Kids by Jamie Miller and thought I'd share it since it relates to respect, our TPS character word of the month. It might be helpful when your children are having trouble getting along with other children, or when you want to emphasize the ideas of treating people equally and not making fun of others. I know some of you are involved children's groups too, like Sunday school classes, and thought this might be useful for you!

Show your children several apples, emphasizing the differences in size, color, and appearance. Some of the apples can be old, withered, or bruised. Then, cut an apple in half across the apple, not lengthwise as you normally do. Ask your child what he or she notices. Explain that all apples have a similar five-pointed star inside that holds the seeds. Cut open a few more apples to demonstrate that, regardless of outer appearance, all apples have the perfect star inside.

Discuss how people are like apples. People look different on the outside: they come in different shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. But everyone has a "star" inside- we can imagine it as the seeds of our potential, or our unique combination of special talents and good qualities. Like the seeds, if these gifts are nourished, they grow. The activity can also be used to demonstrate that if we judge people by their outward appearances, we may miss out on truly great people. From here you could launch into a discussion about what your child sees as his or her special talents, what it would take to nourish those gifts, and the qualities they see in people they know and those they look up to.

The best part is that it is easy to remind your children of the lesson! Just pack an apple cut in half to reveal the star in their lunch boxes, or serve it as a snack at home! :)