From the vibrant color to the odd shapes and textures, kids love to play with pumpkins in the fall! With pumpkins, children can explore almost every sense including sight, touch, smell, and taste!

Science:

• Provide a variety of small pumpkins and gourds along with a magnifying glass. Have children examine the textures, shapes, and colors of the pumpkins and gourds. Have them point out differences and similarities.
• Have the children predict whether a pumpkin will sink or float. Then drop a pumpkin into water to discover that it does float.  It is hollow inside and the trapped air keeps it from sinking.
• Explore the inside of a pumpkin to learn more about seeds, fibers, and pumpkin meat. Have the kids feel the stringy texture (this is awesome for sensory play).
• You can even bake the pumpkin seeds and add salt or cinnamon sugar for a unique treat!

Math:

• Guess how many seeds a pumpkin has inside! Collect and count the seeds taken from a cut pumpkin.
• Guess how much a pumpkin weighs, make predictions and then use a scale to determine its weight.
• Cut out several pumpkins ranging in size from small to large. Have the children place the pumpkins in order from smallest to largest. (PRC has 4 sizes of pumpkin die-cuts)
• Have children draw faces on orange colored paper plates only using shapes they have learned about (squares, triangles, rectangles, circles).

Art:

• Pass several pumpkins around the classroom and have the children examine the size, color, shape, and texture of each one. Have them draw detailed pictures of the pumpkins.
• Provide dried pumpkin seeds, glue, and 1-2 inch pieces of orange yarn for children to create their own pumpkin insides.
• Pumpkin Suncatchers-grate pieces of orange crayon and place between 2 pieces of waxed paper.  Place a cloth over the paper and iron.  Cut out a pumpkin shape and hang in a sunny window.