We hope you enjoy this simple and all-natural caramel popcorn! Popped in coconut oil and sweetened with maple syrup and a little bit of vanilla, it's the perfect afternoon snack or popcorn treat for your next movie night. If you're making this with kids, you can enjoy it as a sweet snack while reading the classic children's book, "The Popcorn Book" by Tomie dePaola. 
For more delicious corn recipes and children's corn crafts, growing projects, activity sheets and more, be sure to check out Veggie Buds Club's "Crazy for Corn!" digital eBook. 

Reading children's books that feature veggies is a great way to normalize veggies and make them fun! We have read a lot of veggie books and have compiled our Top 10. You can purchase these books (and many more great veggie books!) in our Amazon Shop or via the links below. We have organized them into age appropriate categories in our Amazon Shop for your convenience.

Here is a list of our Top 10 Children's Books Featuring Veggies in alphabetical order by author:

1. 1 2 3 Peas by Keith Baker
2. I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child
3. Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli by Barbara Jean Hicks
4. Too Many Carrots by Katy Hudson
5. Soup Day by Melissa Iwai
6. We're Going to the Farmers' Market by Stefan Page
7. Zora's Zucchini by Katherine Pryor: 
8. Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
9. Rah, Rah, Radishes! by April Pulley Sayre
10. Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens

We're having fun featuring a new letter each week in our house, and since this is Veggie Buds Club plenty of our activities feature healthy veggies and fruit! Below find 7 activities that teach your preschool-aged kids about the letter "A" (and that veggies and fruit are fun!).

Here are some of our recommended books featuring veggies & fruit and the letter "A":

• "Eating the Alphabet" by Lois Ehlert
• "The Apple Pie Tree" by Zoe Hall
• "Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship" by Edward Hemingway
• "Curious George: Apple Harvest" by H. A. Rey
• "Ten Apples on Top" by Dr. Seuss
• "Up, Up, Up! It's Apple Picking Time" by Jody Fickes Shapire

Both my 2 and 4 year old had fun with this craft! I cut out some apple seed shapes and drew the lower case letter "a" and apple stem on construction paper. My 4 year old was able to trace the word "Apple", cut out the "a" and stem and use a glue stick to put the picture together. I assisted my 2 year old through the whole craft, he particularly enjoyed using the glue stick!

Download this FREE Letter "A" Tracing Sheet below:

Enjoy this simple kid-friendly recipe for Applesauce (we added a carrot because this is Veggie Buds Club!). Your kids can help peel and chop the apples and carrot. Have them measure and add the apple juice and then observe the rest of the process.

Ingredients:

• 4 apples
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 cup apple juice

Instructions:

1. Peel and chop apples and carrot
2. Add apple juice, chopped apples, and chopped carrot to a large pot
3. Simmer for about 20 minutes over medium heat until the carrots are tender
4. Place softened apples and carrots into a food processor or blender and process/blend until smooth

Download these FREE Letter "A" Coloring Pages!

Here is a simple and fun "snacktivity" that is great for fine motor skills, problem solving, and encourages healthy eating. My 2 year old is not an apple fan (he's more of a berries and grapes guy) and he totally ate up these apple chunks on toothpicks!

This is a simple science experiment for young kids! Even if they're too young to process why oxidation happens, it is still great to expose them to the idea of a "science experiment" and "observation". Make sure they observe what the apple halves look like at the beginning of the experiment vs. the end!

Materials Needed:

• Apple 
• Lemon Wedge
• Knife

Instructions:

1. Cut the apple in half
2. Rub the lemon wedge on the cut side of one of the apple slices
3. Place both apple halves on a plate with the cut side exposed to air
4. Check on your apple halves in about 3 hours and observe the differences

The apple half that was not rubbed with lemon juice should have browned a bit and the apple half with lemon juice on it should still look fresh.
There are compounds in apples that turn brown when they are exposed to air which contain oxygen. This process is called oxidation. If you add an acid to the apple this prevents oxidation, and lemons are very acidic.