Fall is my all-time favorite season which means it’s time for some PUMPKIN ACTIVITIES in Preschool and Beyond! What is not to love? From the beautiful colored leaves to the (hopeful) beginning of cooler weather, right down to wait for it………PUMPKINS! Now I’m not a pumpkin spice latte fanatic like many are this time of year. In fact, the only real pumpkin thing I like as far as eating goes are pumpkin seeds. However, there is something about the sight of pumpkins that makes me feel all warm inside!

     Working with a pumpkin theme in the classroom allows for so many possibilities.  You can review concepts already taught as well as introduce new concepts in a fun, engaging way.

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PUMPKIN ACTIVITIES with PAINTING

Decorating your classroom with student’s work is a great confidence booster and gives the room a welcoming atmosphere. Painting is a fun way for children to be creative and develop motor skills.

• Coffee Filter Pumpkins: using watercolors or watered down tempera paint, students can either paint the coffee filter with a traditional or sponge brush OR use a circular sponge dipped in orange paint. When dry, they can add a stem and they will be ready to hang in the classroom. You can get a pack of 200 coffee filters here!
• Free Painted Pumpkins: show your students pictures of various pumpkins, noting that not all pumpkins are the same.  Some may be tall, short, big or small. Provide them with plain white paper and allow them to paint their own version of a pumpkin.  This has always been one of my favorite projects because no two pumpkins come out alike!

PUMPKIN ACTIVITIES with MATH

     Providing children with fun activities that review concepts already taught or are currently being taught is a great way to help them retain information.  Using seasonal/holiday objects like pumpkins, helps awaken children’s excitement when reviewing concepts.

• Pumpkin Seed Counting: for this you can use real pumpkin seeds or seeds that are cut out of manila paper. Students will need to glue the correct number of seeds in the box with the corresponding number. You can get a free copy of this worksheet here. Copy it on to orange paper or any other color of your choice.

Pumpkin Counting: this is one of my favorite resources because it includes materials needed to review numbers 1-20. As seen below, it can be used in various ways, including number matching, number order and number counting.

Matching the numbered pumpkin with

the correct number of dots.

Counting mats which allow

students to review numbers

1-20.

Number order and Number Matching

 .                                                                            Number matching

Pumpkin ACTIVITIES with Books

     Let’s not forget about reading time during pumpkin season!  There are so many great books about Fall and pumpkins, but one of my favorites has to be Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano, which you can find here.  It is such a great story which can lead into many more lessons other than pumpkins. A nice reminder that each of us is unique and just because we may be different, we are still GREAT!

     After reading Spookley, you can do a cute Pumpkin Craft! 

     If you are teaching older children who need to practice writing, you can use the craft as a cover to their very own pumpkin story!

Pumpkin ACTIVITIES with Readers

     One of the biggest concepts to teach when learning about pumpkins is the Life Cycle of a Pumpkin. This is something that students as young as preschool are learning.  There are many books that tell their story in their own unique way. As a follow-up to those books, I like to include my own readers that they can color and take home to share with their families.

These Pumpkin Readers come in large size for teachers to use and smaller versions in black and white for the students!

     WOW! Did you get all that?  So, as you can see, pumpkin time is one of my FAVORITE times of the year!  I hope you’ve enjoyed these ideas and I hope you have fun making pumpkin memories with your students!