1. Golden Delicious Apple Craft Activity

2. Background: The Golden Delicious Apple was designated as the official state fruit of West Virginia by Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 7, adopted by the Legislature on February 20, 1995. The plain apple had been previously designated as the official state fruit by House Concurrent Resolution No. 56, adopted March 7, 1972 Anderson Mullins discovered this apple variety in Clay County in 1905. The Golden Delicious Apple is one of the most important apple varieties in all principle fruit growing areas of the world. But in 1912, the original tree on the farm of the Mullins family on Porter Creek had only local fame as Mullins Yellow Seedling. It was a precious sapling which bore big yellow apples such as no one had ever seen before. The gold that grew in Clay County in 1912, not far from the hamlet of Odessa, now enriches much of the fruit world. Let's look at this variety. The tree is strong, especially the spur type. Golden Delicious is a heavy long-season bloomer, self-fruitful, extremely frost resistant, one of the earliest, heaviest of bearers. Each year, the Clay County Golden Delicious Festival is held in honor of this great agricultural boon for the area and state of West Virginia.

3. 1.Paint a large section of the paper lunch bag yellow for the apple and paint a smaller section of the bag green for the leaf. Remember you will be cutting two apple patterns and two leaf patterns from the colored section, so make sure to paint a large enough portion of the bag. 2.Let the paint dry.

4. 1.Cut out the apple and leaf templates. Use the pen or pencil to trace the templates onto the appropriate painted sections of the paper bag. You will trace the templates twice. For the second tracing, make sure to flip the pattern over before you trace it. This will make mirror images of your apples and leaves. 2.Cut out your apple and leaves.

5. 3.Put one of the apple shapes face down, so that you are looking at the unpainted side. 4.Spread a thin bead of craft glue along the edge of the shape. 5.At the top center of the shape, place a line of glue down into the apple. This is where the twig will be placed.

6. 6. Set the twig onto the line of glue you extended into the apple

7. 7. Add a small piece of fiberfill in the center of the apple shape. Try to avoid letting the fiberfill touch the glue.

8. 8.Carefully place the remaining apple shape without the glue on top of the apple shape with the twig and fiberfill. Line up the edges and press them closed. 9.Repeat the process in steps 3 - 8 to make the little stuffed leaf.* 10.Glue the leaf onto the stem of your apple. *If you prefer, you can also just simply cut a leaf shape out of felt or craft foam instead of making a stuffed leaf.

9. 11.Glue a small magnet on the back of the apple. 12.Cut a piece of twine and tie it into a bow. 13.Glue the bow onto the stem of the apple 14.Once all of the glue is dry, the apple is complete.

10. References: Official State Symbols of West Virginia. Available at: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Educational/Kids_P age/symbols.cfm http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Educational/Kids_P age/symbols.cfm Clay County, West Virginia Golden Delicious History. Available at: http://www.claygoldendeliciousfestival.com/201 1History.html http://www.claygoldendeliciousfestival.com/201 1History.html Paper Bag Apple. Available at: http://familycrafts.about.com/od/applecrafts/ss/ pbapple.htm http://familycrafts.about.com/od/applecrafts/ss/ pbapple.htm