The month of October in the classroom is a time filled with a lot of excitement about learning. Many routines have been established and students are excited to have made new friends. All students are excited about learning. For this month in an early years classroom is all about pumpkins.
Pumpkins KWL
In a large group discussion, create a KWL chart of what the students already know about pumpkins. Answers may vary from orange, bumpy, have seeds to "Daddy carves a pumpkin for Halloween".
Then create a chart the next day of what the students want to learn about pumpkins. Answers could range from how do pumpkins grow?, who grows them?, who picks them?, how many does one farmer grow? to why are some pumpkins green?.
Once the unit is completed then can both charts be read again and a new chart be created. This chart would be about what the students learned about pumpkins. Usually this discussion is answering all the questions from the W chart of what they wanted to learn about pumpkins.
Bringing Pumpkins Into the Classroom
Teachers can plan a field trip to the local pumpkin patch. The students can see first hand where the pumpkins come from and how pumpkins grow. A teacher can purchase a pumpkin for each table group in the class.
If a pumpkin patch is not close by, purchasing enough pumpkins for one pumpkin to be at each table from a local grocery store.
Pumpkin Art
Ripped Pumpkins: Show students the different pumpkins around the room and the shapes of each pumpkin. Students can go and touch each pumpkin to see and feel the differences. Then each child is given an orange piece of construction paper. Students can rip the page to create one pumpkin.
A brown rectangle can be added to make a stem. Give each student a green circle of construction paper to make green vine. To make a vine, cut around the green circle to create a spiral. Then instruct the students to glue vine to the back of the pumpkin.
These pumpkins can be stapled to a class bulletin board entitled “Our Class Pumpkin Patch!” Other art projects closer to Halloween like bats can be added the bulletin board.
Pumpkin Rhymes
There are many fun rhymes to sing as a class. One being the Five Little Pumpkins . This is a cute rhyme about five pumpkins sitting on a gate. There are mini books that can be photocopied and sent home as an extension to the rhyme.
Pumpkin Books
There are many beautifully written and illustrated books for young learners. Here are some suggestions for teachers to read to students:
- Pumpkin Day Pumpkin Night by Anne Rockwell [ Bloomsbury, USA, 2009] This is a great story of a little boy searching for the perfect pumpkin for his jack-O-Lantern starting at the Farmer’s Market.
- Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum [National Geographic Society, 2009] This is a lovely book of photographs of looking at how a pumpkin grows from a seed to a pumpkin ripening in a field.
Pumpkin Treats
As a class, brainstorm what types of food can be made from pumpkins. Then take some suggestions and make the food in the classroom. Always keep food allergies in mind before deciding to do this activity Some ideas are: mini pumpkin pies, pumpkin cookies, and mini pumpkin muffins.
Plan a Pumpkin Day
Planning a day of pumpkin activities can be a way to celebrate the end of the unit. This can be a full day or half day to investigate pumpkins. Asking for parent volunteers to help cut the pumpkins open, scooping out the seeds and counting the seeds by groups of ten will help make these activities run smoothly. Other ideas for the day are making a Pumpkin Day crowns, decorating pumpkin shaped cookies and taste testing roasted pumpkin seeds.
Finding out what students already know and what the students what to learn about pumpkins is very important when planning activities. Students will enjoy discovering how pumpkins grow and taste testing foods that are made from pumpkins. Having pumpkins in the room and planning a day to count seeds are great ways to make learning about pumpkins exciting and fun.
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