Oh Fall, we love you! Sunshine, warm but not hot, cool but not freezing, colors everywhere…pumpkin everything!
Little man has been BEGGING to make pumpkin pie, so we are going to tackle that next week! (Update: we did it and had a blast!) This week we went to Wallace’s (a local garden center that seriously has all the things) to pick out our pumpkins. The kiddies go to a patch as a family, so I didn’t want to double up. Wallace’s is perfect though, because in the fall they have a bunch of outdoor FREE activities, including a bounce house. So, we had a ball. Both of the cuties picked out their own pumpkins (and some extras that magically sneaked into the cart…).
Today, we were ready for some pumpkin exploration! Giving kids opportunities to learn hands on and explore is the best way for them to learn.
I grabbed a bowl to handle the seeds and the “goo” and a knife (obviously an adult tool!) to chop this bad boy open. The tray helped to keep the mess relatively centered to one area.
BEFORE I cut the pumpkin, I asked:
- What color is the pumpkin?
- What does the pumpkin feel like?Hard or soft? Smooth or bumpy?
- What do you think the inside will look like? Feel like?
Once the pumpkin was open, we looked inside! The kids were excited and immediately, little man yelled “SEEDS!”
DURING our time exploring the pumpkin’s insides, I asked:
- What do you see?
- What do you feel?
- What color is the “goo”?
- What color are the seeds?
- Do the shell and the goo feel the same or different?
- Point to the shell. (stem, seed, pulp/goo)
I gave them spoons to use, but encouraged them to use their hands (just one finger when they were nervous).
They had a lot of fun chasing the seeds and trying to get them from the pumpkin to the bowl.
A great way to cement what was learned while exploring is to have your preschooler draw a picture of what he just did. Use the time to review and ask questions like:
- What do you remember about the pumpkin?
- What color was the pumpkin?
- How big was your pumpkin?
We decided to paint our pumpkins next!
Both of the kids loved giving their “pukins” a good coat of paint. The paints we had on hand were neon washables, and worked well for what we needed. They were also very easy to clean up.
Which is good, because painting feet and painting pumpkins got a little mixed up at one point. 😉
If you wanted to extend this activity further either on the same day or another day, here are some great resources!
You can also check out these pumpkin life cycle printables and this Free Pumpkin PreK Pack from This Reading Mama.
Patti Starr says
Wonderful language building activity! This speech pathologist wouldn’t change a thing! Maybe you should write a book?
Love you! Happy Fall
Anna says
Yes! Love building up our vocab and working on question/answer!