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. 

January's featured veggie for Veggie Buds Club is the incredible carrot. Enjoy this delicious kid-friendly way to eat carrots from heather_kidskitchen!

Show your child how to safely peel a carrot by standing behind him or her and holding the peeler together. Use different color carrots to make the dish even more fun!

CARROT CHIPS
Ingredients
-½ teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt
-½ teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, and dried dill
-1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
-5 to 6 large carrots, peeled and trimmed
-1 ½ tablespoons vegetable, avocado, or olive oil

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. 
2. In a small bowl, mix salt, garlic powder, onion powder, dried dill, and black pepper. Set aside.
3. Cut carrots into 1/8-inch rounds. A crinkle cutter makes a fun shape, but if you don’t have one, cutting with a knife works just as well. If your carrots are on the thinner side, cut slices on an angle to create bigger slices.
4. Place carrots in a pile on the center of the sheet pan or in a bowl. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with ¾ teaspoon of the salt mixture, and toss to coat. Reserve remaining salt mixture for dip or another use.
5. Spread carrots out evenly on the pan so none are overlapping. Roast carrots until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, taste for seasoning and sprinkle on more salt if needed. Serve with dip if desired. 
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AVOCADO RANCH DIP
Ingredients
-1 ripe avocado
-½ cup plain Greek yogurt or plain, unsweetened dairy-free yogurt alternative
-2 tablespoons lemon juice
-¾ teaspoon Ranch Salt (from above)

Instructions
1. Cut the avocado in half. Using a spoon, scoop avocado flesh into a food processor or blender.
2. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. 

Our friend Heather from heather_kidskitchen is at it again with a new delicious and kid-friendly recipe! January's featured veggie for Veggie Buds Club is the incredible carrot and Heather created two recipes for our members, this "Tropical Carrot Smoothie" recipe and a "Carrot Chips with Ranch Dip" recipe (we'll post this one next week- the suspense!).  

Like a tropical vacation in a glass! Kids will love measuring and adding ingredients to the blender, helping to chop the carrot, and pressing the buttons on the blender.

Ingredients
-1 small carrot, peeled, trimmed, and chopped* (about ½ cup)
-1 Clementine, tangerine, or ½ an orange, peeled
-1 heaping cup frozen pineapple, mango, or a combo of both
-½ cup plain Greek yogurt (or non-dairy yogurt)
-1 pitted date (or 1 tablespoon honey)
-¼ cup coconut milk (or milk of your choice)
-1 tablespoon hemp seeds (optional)
-Handful of ice
-Shredded coconut for garnish

Instructions
1. Add everything to a blender and blend until smooth. Blend in additional ice if you want a thicker smoothie.
2. Pour into glasses and sprinkle with shredded coconut. Enjoy!

*If you don’t have a high speed blender, I recommend grating the carrot so it blends more easily.