Apple bobbing is an enjoyable and chaotic activity that only requires water, apples, and willing participants who don’t mind getting wet! This engaging activity can build both sensory and fine motor skills while teaching turn-taking and teamwork skills.
Apples make for an effective teaching tool to demonstrate buoyancy principles similar to Archimedes’ bathtub law, making the concept easy for students to grasp yet difficult to master! As their fruit contains air pockets designed specifically to aid seed dispersion, apples float easily.
Apples are an ideal fruit to use for bobbing, due to being less dense than water. In the past, young women would mark an apple belonging to their potential mate before tossing it into a basin of water; if the apple bobbed on its first attempt it was said to portend romance and marriage; otherwise it indicated either love would fade quickly or an unsuccessful match had ensued.
This fun game can also be turned into a competition between head-to-head tournament players with each round having a winner (think March Madness!). Make each player’s task harder by shortening their time (15-30 seconds); those unable to grab an apple within this period advance to the next one and so forth. However, any bitten apples must be removed from the tub between rounds as germs may spread easily between participants.