Materials
Fruit or vegetables suitable for drying: grapes, cranberries, bell peppers, mushrooms, apricots, apples, pears, plums, carrots
String
Clothes hangers
Safe plastic yarn needles
Clean nylon stockings, optional
Instructions
1. Ask the children to bring one fruit or vegetable from home. Wash them.
2. Help the children string the fruit and vegetables onto string with the yarn needles (you may place larger fruit such as apples, pears, plums, etc., in a clean nylon stocking).
3. Attach strings and nylons to wire coat hangers and hang them in a clean dry area that receives a lot of sun. Allow them to dry undisturbed.
4. Small fruits and vegetables dry faster. Apples and other large fruits may take longer.
5. Taste your dried fruits and compare the difference between fresh and dried flavors and textures.More to doMath: You can display charts in your drying area. Children can mark off the days it takes for their food choice to dry and then visually compare bar graphs of how many days it takes for different foods to dry.More science: Large groups can discuss wholesome foods and how air and sun can preserve foods through the dehydration process.
