Pumpkins are a favorite part of fall in most kindergarten and first grade classrooms. Here are some of our favorite activities for learning all about pumpkins. The pumpkin games are easy enough to become hands on independent literacy and math centers.
Parts of a Pumpkin
A brace map is a perfect way to identify the parts of a pumpkin. I brought a pumpkin to school. We cut it open to see all of the parts. Then, we worked together to draw the parts. Lastly, we worked together to stretch out the words
After making the class brace map, each of the kids made one of their own. I painted their palms to make the pumpkin. Then, the kids wrote the parts of the pumpkin.
All About Pumpkins
We also completed this chart where we wrote all of the things that we learned about pumpkins.
Then, the kids each selected two facts that wanted to record.
Last, we made this fun pumpkin craftivity to store the writing. If you look closely at the photo, you will notice that the pumpkin opens up right by the stem. Each side opens up to show the completed writing.
Life Cycle of a Pumpkin
We also learned about the life cycle of the pumpkin. The kids colored the pictures, cut them apart and sequenced them in the accordion folded pumpkin book.
Pumpkin Literacy Games and Activities
To play this phoneme segmentation game, we gave each child 3 pumpkin seeds and a wagon with 3 pumpkins. Then, we made a set of cards. We named each picture. As the kids said the word, they slid one seed for each phoneme.
If you want to turn this into a phonics activity, invite the kids to glue down a cvc picture. Then, write one letter on each pumpkin.
Cooking is fun, engaging and educational! We made pumpkin pizzas! Then, the kids wrote the recipe and sequenced the pictures to show the steps!
Pumpkin Math Games
This is a super easy math center that we use A LOT in our data center. The kids spin the spinner. Next, tally if it lands on apple or pumpkin.
Once they spin a given number of times, they create a graph using the data from the tally marks.
Here is another fun math game. Make some pumpkin cards with the words more and less. Place a cup on each side of the card. We drew jack o lantern faces on our cups for extra fun! Invite the first child to pour orange water into one of the cups. The next child then pours water into the other cup on the card, making sure they make theirs either more or less depending on which side they are pouring. Have the children take turns going first.
We love this super easy number game. Line up the 3 scarecrows on the game board. We made ours stand up by opening a paper clip and taping it to the back of the scarecrows. Invite the kids to roll the dice. Then, the kids select which scarecrow to move towards the harvest. If you would like, you can have the kids split the move between two scarecrows to create an addition equation. The goal of the game is to get all three scarecrows to the harvest!
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