Pumpkin Activities

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!

All of these activities are from this unit: Apples and Pumpkins

Developing Literacy and Math Skills in the Dramatic Play with a PET STORE

The Pet Store is Open! Megan and I recently set up a pet store in her classroom. This blog post shares how we set it up and what we included!

First up, make the environment print rich.  Think "real" pet store. We added Open and Closed signs to encourage the children to use environmental print in their play.

Next, we set up an office area. This area holds all the "paper" supplies needed for their play. We have desk supplies, picture order forms, blank order forms for children to write out their order, and price tags.

Then, we set up the pet store.  We created labels for tubs to hold the supplies the kids will need. We added tubs for holding name tags, pet supplies, stuffed pets, ads, vet supplies, cards to label the store, and paper for making bedding for the cages.

You need a pay station! This is a favorite!

We also set up an area to hold clothing. We found some aprons at The Dollar Tree. They had a picture on the front, so we just made some Pet Store Tags to hot glue to the front. We added our doctor and nurse dress up clothing along with some general dress up clothing for the "shoppers". We hung the shopping bags on the last hook since this is right next to the cash register.

I picked up these baskets at the Dollar Tree and we have a cart as part of the classroom resources.  These give the "shoppers" somewhere to put their purchases.

And here it is...The Pet Store is ready for play!

The kids were quick to find their "jobs" and dress accordingly.  They found the name tags that indicate the jobs they have chosen.

They began their play by sorting the animals into the cages. My friend Jamie Hubbard shared this fabulous cage idea. I connected 4 together and stood them up.  I used zip ties to hold together locker shelves. I connected 4 more together, put them on their side, and slid them into the 4 standing.  I then used more zip ties to connect them! The kids love them!

Then, the kids used the pet labels to label each cage.

Next, they sorted the pet supplies and gave each item a price.

Now, it's time to shop. The kids filled out order forms of what they wanted to purchase.

Then, they used the order form to collect the items into one of the baskets.

And now time to pay and put the items into one of the brown bags.

We also included medical items so that the children could role play veterinarians.

The children completed forms about the check up!

I also included a few activities that would simulate jobs in the pet store. 

One activity was to sort fish into the correct bowls by their color.  You could also use goldfish crackers!

 We also included a pet bone size sorting activity.

 A favorite activity...looking at x-rays of pets and matching them to the correct pet picture.

 The last activity was a STEM Challenge. The kids used toothpicks and playdough to make cages for the small plastic pets.

I loved that they tried different things! 

First, the selected their pet and drew the design for the cage.

Then, they built their cages.

And, last their evaluated if their cage was effective.

They love this center! I can see if staying around for a few weeks! All of the supplies come from this unit:

Dramatic Play Pet Store Unit

Science Box: Easy Steps to Include Science EVERY Week

As a primary teacher, reading, writing, and math seem to take up most of our time! But, did you know that a child's understanding of science concepts can actually make them MORE capable in these areas. Yet, there just doesn't seem to be the time, right?  This blog post shares how we have a weekly science box that is highly engaging, teaches the scientific process, and develops schema!

Each week, I pack this box filled with all of the things that will be needed to conduct our experiment.

Before beginning the activity, we must get ready! We dress like a scientist! If you want to read about how we introduce our science lab coats and build excitement, you can find that in this blog post!

Build Engagement in Science blog post

We display our scientific method charts in the room within easy reach. As we conduct each experiment, we follow our flow map to see what to do next. This blog post shares how we teach the scientific method.

Scientific Method Blog Post

The first things the kids find in the box is the letter from Dr. Science! This letter tells the children their challenge as well as gives them the background knowledge they will use during the activity.

Next, they find an easy to read chart with the steps for the experiment.  We added these to give our kids a relevant nonfiction text experience. So often, we have kids read nonfiction text that teaches them how to do something, yet we don't follow through on the DOING.

In this experiment we were talking about winter sports. The kids watched video clips of skiing to see the skier jump from the ramp.  We then set to making ramps for our skiers--we used cars!

After constructing several different ramps, the kids measured to see how far each car traveled once it left the ramp.

The last thing they find in the science box will be the recording pages. This is where we record our process and our learning.

Here are a few other activities that we did in our weekly science box.  We used magnets to make our ice skaters mover along our paths.

We drew the water cycle on a baggie and hung them in the window.

Here's a close up.

We used flowers and different colors of water to see how the water traveled up the stem to color the flowers. 

These activities are included in this unit that I wrote with my good friend Adam.

The Science Box Unit

If you are looking for MORE science box activities, you can find some in this unit.

Science Blasters Unit