Every year we make caramel apples in the classroom. The kids are so proud and have a fun treat to take home and share with their families. We usually do this activity during our Fall classroom party since I have extra help, but you could definitely tie it into your apple/science activities or as a cooking class.

Cooking class – How To Make Caramel Apples is a fun way to incorporate many different learning standards. In this pack, the students are learning writing, sequencing, retelling, life skills and much more. It’s a great hands-on activity to get the students excited to learn.

Items you’ll need:

2 bags of caramels unwrapped

1/4 cup of water

one washed apple per student ( I like to get the bags of them at Trader Joes, they’re a perfect size)

one popsicle stick per student

crockpot

wooden spoon

tea towel

parchment paper

sharpie

cupcake liners

ziplock sandwich bags to send them home in

optional toppings if you would like – mini chocolate chips, sprinkles etc.

This will make approx. 12 apples so I usually double the recipe for my class size.

To make the caramel

Set the crockpot up at least 2 hours before you want to make your caramel apples. Place your caramels in the crockpot along with the water. Put the crockpot on high for an hour and a half stirring every 10 minutes or so until the caramel is melted. If you aren’t quite ready to make the apples at this time, turn the crockpot onto low to keep the caramel melted. Setting a timer on my phone to keep up the stirring is a must! We don’t want any burnt caramel!

Dipping the caramel apples

I have just two students at a time making the apples with me. Have them write their name with the sharpie on the popsicle stick. They can then put the popsicle stick into the middle of the apple. They may need a bit of help with this part to get it in there far enough that the apple won’t fall back off.

They’re ready to dip now but before we do we talk about how the crockpot is extremely hot and the safe way to use it. We lay a tea towel over the edge so no one burns a wrist while dipping their apples. When the caramel is melted, dip and roll the apple on its sides. Let it drip a bit, and you can then sprinkle any toppings that you’d like to at this point. Place the apple on a large piece of parchment paper and let cool for a couple hours. At the end of the day, put a cupcake liner under the apple and place it into a ziplock bag to safely get it home to share with their family.