On a bright September afternoon three young boys shared a homemade swing and considered the finer points of apples.

"I just like eating them the way they are," observed Kory Mueller, a second-grade student at Immanuel Lutheran School in Perryville.

"I like caramel apples," Mueller's classmate Jonathan Rodewald said. "I kind of like taking them and cutting them up and," Rodewald's voice trailed off he moved his arm in an arc, sinking an imaginary piece of apple into some equally tasty, if imaginary, caramel dip.

Waiting for his turn on the tree swing at Pioneer Orchard in Jackson, Tim Miesner said, "I like them plain."

Sliced, diced or straight from the tree or market, apples make meals more appealing, and they can't be beat for a healthful snack.

Mueller prefers greenish apples, while Rodewald and Miesner are less particular about the color.

All three boys along with each of their 57 or so schoolmates who visited the you-pick orchard last week were sure to find apples to their liking among the many rows of trees bearing their early fall fruit.

Popular types of apples like red delicious, golden delicious and Jonathon apples are among the varieties available at many local markets, including Pioneer, Diebold Orchards at the I-55 Benton exit, and Steffans Orchard fruit stand in Altenburg.

"We've got about 25 varieties of apples planted, a lot are showing really good promise, really good qualities," said David Diebold of Diebold Orchards. "The apples we're pulling already seem to have a little better quality and flavor than some past years."

While many popular varieties continue to ripen this week, other varieties -- some long established in the area and others a bit newer -- will be available any day now. Some types of apples, like the Fuji, ripen in late October, extending the season throughout the autumn months.

The Steffans Orchard fruit stand opened just last week, a bit later than usual prompted by a late blooming season, Thelma Steffans noted. "The bloom was late, so the season was late," she said. Several varieties of apples are likely to be in their prime this week, she observed, calling September and October "apple months."

Come the apple months, teachers find many applications for the colorful fruit, many of which end in hearty snacking.

For eating and for teaching, apples are invaluable.

Many of the activities teachers lead students in would transfer easily to the home and would serve as helpful reinforcement of concepts taught at school, noted Linda Sasha, speech language pathologist at Alma Schrader School.

Sasha finds ways throughout September to incorporate apples into hands-on activities with her kindergarten through third-grade students. "We try to do hands-on activities everyday, it's the best way to learn, even for adults," she said.

Among Sasha's students' favorite activities is making apple smiles. The smiles are fashioned from apple slices swabbed with peanut butter. Mini-marshmallows represent teeth. Leave the red peeling on the slices for a bright lip effect.

"They never last too long; sometimes we can't even get them made," before the children gobble them up, she explained, chuckling.

Carol Loesch, second-grade teacher at Immanuel Lutheran School in Perryville, leads her students in making apple sauce every autumn.

Using a crock pot, the daylong activity calls for students to mix chopped apples, sugar, cinnamon and water as needed throughout the morning until noon.

"The most important job is the official taster. We have to taste it about every 30 minutes," Loesch said with a knowing nod. By about 2:30 in the afternoon, the class is ready to enjoy the homemade goodness, and the aroma tempts many a teacher, too, she noted, laughing.

LaDonia Beggs of Pioneer Orchard noted that when it comes to nutritious goodness and kids, an old-fashioned cider float just can't be beat. Vanilla ice cream with cold cider poured over it and perhaps topped with a dash of nutmeg is likely to prompt smiles.

Low in calories, low in fat and a good source of fiber and complex carbohydrates, apples are also a good source for snacking because they don't promote tooth decay, noted Judy Lueders, nutrition specialist with the University of Missouri Extension. Since many children love food dips, an alternative to caramel is vanilla yogurt, she noted.

Beggs shared these tips for selecting and storing apples.

1. Select firm apples that are free of bruises.

2. Handle apples gently to prevent bruising.

3. Refrigerate apples to keep crisp longer.

4. Store apples in ventilated plastic bag away from foods with strong odors.

5. Coat apple slices and dices with apple juice or lemon juice to prevent browning.

Courtesy of LaDonia Beggs of Pioneer Orchard

LaDonia's Apple Dumplings

Makes 4 dumplings.

Make pastry for 8-inch, 2-crust pie.

Roll out pastry a little less than 1/8 inch thick and cut into four 7-inch squares. Pare and core a medium, tart, juicy Pioneer apple for each dumpling. Prepare syrup.

Syrup for 4 dumplings:

Boil together 3 minutes: 2/3 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cups water, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.

Fill cavities of apples with mixture of: 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Then, dot each apple with 2 teaspoons of butter. Place apple on each square of pastry. Bring opposite points of pastry up over the apple. Overlap. Lift carefully, place a little apart in a baking dish.

Pour the hot syrup around the dumplings. Bake immediately, until crust is nicely brown and apples are cooked through. (Test with fork to be sure the apple is done.) Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes, reduce heat to 250 degrees for about 25 minutes or until apples test done.

Serve warm with my favorite sauce.

Favorite Sauce:

1 1/2 tablespoons flour, 3 tablespoons sugar. Mix together. Add 1 cup of Half and Half milk and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.