Pumpkins! Preschool Math, Science and Art Fun

My daycare group enjoyed a day devoted to pumpkins last week.  I read them two books about pumpkins, one fiction and the other non-fiction.  Then we talked about how a pumpkin grows.

I have a simple file folder game that includes pictures of the life cycle of a pumpkin.  File folder games are great to pull out year after year to revisit concepts for young children.  My group of kids worked together to put the pictures in order with assistance.

Then we moved into craft time and used paper towel rolls to stamp orange pumpkins.  Since we did our orange balloon stamping last week my children have been asking for another pumpkin stamping activity.

I gave the kids brushes and they practiced forming each letter of their name in a pumpkin stamp. I lightly wrote the letters in pencil for some to trace so that everyone experienced success.

You could have the children practice writing numbers or letters in their pumpkins.

Younger children might enjoy sticking letter stickers into their pumpkin shapes if they find forming letters or numbers too tricky.

The children painted the stems of the pumpkins and showed how the pumpkins grew on a vine.  This was a great example of how they applied their new knowledge of pumpkins.

The best way to fully understand and remember a concept is give the children the opportunity to have a hands-on experience.  We bundled up and headed to our local pumpkin patch to pick some pumpkins.

The children enjoyed looking closely at the vines and the different sizes of pumpkins.

The next day I brought out my pumpkin number cards.  I made them years ago when I taught kindergarten.

First we put them in sequence.  Then the children had a chance to find each number’s leaf match.

Then I flipped them over and we played a game of memory.

Flip over two cards and see if you can find a match.  Nope, not this turn.

Yay, a match!

I worked with one child and gave him some addition questions.  He loves to see the patterns in numbers and how you can manipulate a number sentence around.

Happy Pumpkin Learning Activities!!