Looking for easy and fun fall activities with kids, when it’s apple picking season? Just go out there and pick up those apples! And if you are wondering, when does the apple picking start, wonder no more. It always has between September and Mid November, if you live in North America and Europe.
This year, we were traveling to Northern Germany for work for three months exactly when it’s apple picking time. Well, for the last two years, we lived 2 minutes from the beach and have summer until Mid November. So, were not feeling thrilled to spend the end of summer in rainy and cold Germany… We said goodnight to the beach and wake up to fog and mist the next day.
However, it was not a that bad experience at the end. Luckily, we had a few sunny days that we used to the full.
When it’s apple picking season…It’s great time to do some fall activities with kids!
Apple picking was on our list. We found near the house, we were staying at, one of the biggest and oldest public apple gardens in Germany – Haseldorf Fruit Orchard.
As one of the largest, public collections of ancient fruits, this orchard is home to 180 old, local varieties of apples, plums, and pears that are no longer sold in stores. Lucky us! Northern Germany was not that bad at all!
It was a pretty long way to get there. Beautiful views, lots of nature, plenty of sheep and their excrements covering all the paths. If you are a sensitive person, and the smell of animal feces (cow & sheep) bothers you, its probably not the activity for you in Germany. It’s very countryside.
Finally, we got there. Very peaceful. Each tree had a nametag with their apple variety.
There were several big tree arms that you could use to get some apple down. For yourself and a fresh snack for the free-running sheep around.
Most of the apples tasted really sour, but very fresh and smelled really tasty. The apple varieties that could be found there were ancient fruits, that are not sold in supermarkets. Therefore, I think the apples there taste very similar to the original taste apples had when there were no supermarkets. Despite the sour taste of the apples, Aiden loved them. He was so excited to see the apples falling from the tree, collecting them. Eating apples that fall directly from the tree and cleaning them on his sweater. Magical!
He loved to see the sheep running around and befriended even one of them.
All in all, it is a great fall activity for kids, no matter where in the world you are.
Happy Apple Picking! And if you have more energy afterward, check out more of our fall activities with kids.