Pumpkins

This week Pre-K began their pumpkin unit! The kiddos had so much fun exploring pumpkins in many interesting ways!

During morning meeting we read a variety of pumpkin books. We read Five Little Pumpkins, Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Pumpkin and From Seed to Pumpkin. After reading these books we started to discuss the lifecycle of a pumpkin. FUN FACT - Did you know that pumpkins are green before they turn orange?

One of the favorite activities this week was creating a “Drip Art” Pumpkin. The children were fascinated by this project! It was exciting to watch the crayons melt and blend together to create a beautiful design.  If you would like to recreate this craft at home all you need is a pumpkin, a hot glue gun or super glue, crayons and a hairdryer! Watch our time lapse video here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ahgkEPCMW9iToGxy1

The Pre-K kids also loved “Pumpkin Pounding” and “Pumpkin Washing.”  The kiddos enjoyed hammering golf tees into the pumpkin using a block as a hammer. This activity helped develop both fine and gross motor skills as well as hand-eye coordination. During the pumpkin washing center the children had fun playing with the soapy water and using the measuring cups. They used sponges to scrub our pumpkins clean - they are so shiny now! This activity promoted sensory exploration.

Our math centers this week focused on one-to-one correspondence as well as developing fine motor skills.  In the first math activity the kids attached clothespins to pumpkin number cards. In the second, the kids used tweezers to transfer pumpkin seeds into numbered cupcake wrappers.

 

During journals this week the children drew pictures that related to the topic, “What do you know about pumpkins?”  Some of their responses included descriptions of what pumpkins look like and how pumpkins grow.

To wrap up the week, the Pre-K kids conducted a Pumpkin Investigation! We used our senses to explore both the outside and the inside of a pumpkin. Through our investigation we learned that pumpkins are smooth but also bumpy, they have a stem, they have lines running from the stem to the bottom of the pumpkin, and there is pulp and seeds on the inside. The kiddos also got a chance to touch the pulp and the seeds. The children explained that the pulp and the seeds felt squishy and cold.

Next week we will continue our pumpkin unit!