Educational Pumpkin Activities
Mathematics
- Bring a set of pumpkins into the classroom and have students order the pumpkins from smallest to largest by size, stem height, weight, or another attribute.
- Give each student a pumpkin and have students measure the pumpkin. How tall is it? How wide is it? What is its diameter? How much does it weigh? Practice estimation skills by having students how much it will weigh before they weigh it.
- Use a balance to compare the weight of a pumpkin to other objects in the classroom. For example, how many counting bears does it take to equal the weight of the pumpkin?
- Practice counting skills by counting pumpkins. You can count the number of pumpkins you see at the pumpkin patch or bring in small pumpkin candies for children to count and group.
- Sing the “Five Little Pumpkins” song (“Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate, the first one said, ‘Oh my, it’s getting late…’”)
- Most pumpkins have seeds inside. Place students in groups and give each group a small pumpkin. Cut open the pumpkins and have students count the number of seeds inside. Then each group can add their results to a graph. Practice estimation skills by having students predict how many seeds they will find before they look in the pumpkin.
- Make a pumpkin seed counting book. Wash and dry pumpkin seeds and have students glue the correct number of seeds to each page of a counting book. You can also use dried pumpkin parts to make a book about the life cycle of a pumpkin.
- Did you know that the largest pumpkin ever grown weighed over 2,000 pounds? Research the largest pumpkins in history, compare their characteristics, or create a graph to see how much they would have to grow a day to reach that size.
- Turn a pumpkin into a geoboard. Add push pins to the pumpkin and stretch rubber bands around the pins to make different shapes.
- Bake a pumpkin pie (or something else with pumpkin in it) or make a no-bake pumpkin recipe to help students work on measuring and reading directions.
- Make a shape-o-lantern. Cut out different shapes (circles, triangles, rectangles, etc.) in different colors of construction paper and have students glue them together to make their own shape-o-lantern.
- Play an online pumpkin math game, such as Farmer Fred’s Pumpkin Patch or Pumpkin Multiples.
- Determine how much a pumpkin will cost by setting a price per weight, weighing a pumpkin, and determining the final total.
- Find two sets of three pumpkins that are nearly identical in size and color. Make a grid on a large piece of cardboard or by placing tape on the ground and play a game of pumpkin tic-tac-toe.
Science
- Study the life cycle of a pumpkin. How does a pumpkin grow from a seed to a full-grown pumpkin?
- Create a diagram of a pumpkin and label the different parts (stem, seed, vine, etc.)
- Conduct a pumpkin investigation. Have students analyze the pumpkin and describe the outside, the inside, how many seeds it has, how many lines it has, and other important features.
- Discover what happens to a pumpkin when you drop it from different heights. Does it break apart more when dropped from higher heights? What factors cause it to break apart or stay together?
- Use candy pumpkins and toothpicks to create bridges and other amazing structures. Talk with students about what makes one structure sturdier than others.
- Get a large tub of water and predict whether a pumpkin will sink or float. Place it in the water and see what it does. Try different sizes, shapes, and varieties of pumpkins. You could also empty out a pumpkin or poke holes in it to see if that changes the results.
- How long does it take a pumpkin to decompose? Place a piece of pumpkin into a container of dirt and regular monitor it. How long does it take the pumpkin to completely disappear?
- Monitor a rotting pumpkin by having students keep a pumpkin outdoors. Have students regularly go outside to observe the pumpkin. In a journal, students can draw a picture of the pumpkin and write a brief description.
- Grow a plant inside a pumpkin. Open it up and leave some of the guts inside, add some soil and a few plant seeds, and wait for your plant to sprout. Discuss with students what elements of the pumpkin might help a plant grow inside it.
- Create a pumpkin elevator. Challenge students to build a structure they can use to lift a heavy pumpkin. Reward students who can lift the heaviest pumpkin and lift a pumpkin the highest.
- Make a pumpkin volcano. Scoop out a pumpkin, put in some baking soda, add a bit of vinegar, and watch the pumpkin erupt. To make it more fun, add a few small holes for the foam to seep out of.
- Roast some pumpkin seeds with students. Have them look at the seeds before they are roasted and after they are roasted and note how they change.
- Dissolve candy pumpkins in different liquids (water, oil, vinegar, and soda). See how long it takes the pumpkin to completely dissolve.
- Empty a pumpkin, light a candle, and put it inside. Then put the lid on the pumpkin. Talk to students about why the candle goes out. Carve the pumpkin, light a candle, and put it inside. Talk to students about why the candle stays lit.
- Write an acrostic using the word PUMPKIN. Have students come up with a word or sentence related to pumpkins for each letter.
- How many words can you make from the letters in the word PUMPKIN? Challenge students to come up with as many words as possible. To make it easier you could add another word, such as PUMPKIN PATCH or PUMPKIN PIE.
- Have students draw and write a description of the ultimate jack-o-lantern. How big would it be? How would they decorate it?
- If a pumpkin could talk, what would it say? Have students write a short story about a talking pumpkin.
- Read a fiction book about pumpkins. Good books to start with include Spookley the Square Pumpkin and Too Many Pumpkins.
- Have students look at the inside and outside of the pumpkin and describe both with adjectives. Is it slimy on the inside? Bumpy on the outside?
- Create a recipe for a sweet treat using pumpkins or pumpkin candy. Students’ recipes could be something they could actually try to make or something crazy.
- Write pumpkin metaphors and similes, where students compare themselves or other objects to a pumpkin. For example, I am like a pumpkin because sometimes I feel bumpy.
- Write a poem on a pumpkin. Give each student a pumpkin and a permanent marker and let them write poems about fall or pumpkins right on the outside of the pumpkin.
- Create an advertisement for a pumpkin. Have students try to persuade others to buy their pumpkins (or pumpkins from their pumpkin patch) by creating a poster to advertise them or create a make-believe commercial.
- Research the largest pumpkins in history, pumpkin festivals around the world, or another element related to pumpkins and write an informational report.
- Organize nouns related to pumpkins based on whether they are a person, place, or thing. For example, “farmer (person), pumpkin patch (place), seed (thing).”
- Learn vocabulary words related to a pumpkin patch. Some words include: vine, seed, tractor, pulp, tendril, hay, pick.
- Write the letters of the alphabet around the edge of a construction paper pumpkin. Call out a letter of the alphabet. Using a hole punch or dot marker, have students find and mark the letter.
- Visit a pumpkin patch and talk about the role the pumpkin patch plays in your community.
- Create a map that shows how to get to a local pumpkin patch or have students create a map after they visit the pumpkin patch. Students can also follow a map through a corn maze at the pumpkin patch.
- Discuss with students the path a pumpkin takes to get from a seed to a pumpkin pie on the dinner table.
- Did you know that 90% of pumpkins grown in the United States come from a 90-mile radius around Peoria, Illinois? Do some research on the state of Illinois and its pumpkin crop.
- Do some research to figure out the top 5-10 pumpkin producing countries in the world.
- Decorate pumpkins to represent different flags of the world or different states in the United States.
- Paint a world globe onto a pumpkin. Use it to talk about concepts such as the equator, longitude, and latitude.
- Why do people put out jack-o-lanterns on Halloween? Do some research to figure out the reason behind the tradition.
- How have pumpkins been used throughout history? Have each student find one use and write a report on it.
- Eat pumpkin like the Native Americans by cutting it and roasting it over a fire.
- Read the book The Pumpkin People and talk about different personalities and types of people that exist in the world.
- Play a game of pumpkin trivia. Put together a set of historical questions about pumpkins and see how much students know.
- Music
- Sing the song “5 Little Pumpkins.”
- Sing the “I’m a Little Pumpkin” song to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot.” (I’m a little pumpkin, orange and round)
- Use two paper plates taped together with beans inside and painted orange to create pumpkin tambourines.
- Use soft mallets to tap on pumpkins and see what sounds they make. Do they make different sounds once they have been cut open?
- Replace the black dots on music notes with tiny pumpkin pictures on a silly tune about fall or Halloween for beginning learners to play.
- Make up a clapping or stomping rhythm as kids spell out the word pumpkin.
- Fill a plastic tube with dried pumpkin seeds to make a musical shaker.
- Play a game of musical pass the pumpkin. Have students stand in a circle and pass around the pumpkin while music plays. Whoever is holding the pumpkin when the music stops is out.
- Say a rhyme such as “Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater” while having students clap along. Try to say the rhyme faster and slower.
- Have students make up a pumpkin dance, a dance that they think a big, round pumpkin might do or a dance they can do while holding a pumpkin.
- Play students part of the soundtrack from “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and talk about the different sounds you hear.
- Sing the song “Where is Thumbkin?” but insert pumpkin and pull out a pumpkin or two as you say the lines.
- Physical Education
- Play a game of PUMPKIN instead of HORSE. Students shoot baskets and try to avoid getting the letters in “PUMPKIN,” earning one letter for each missed shot.
- Set up a hopscotch game using construction paper cutouts of pumpkins instead of squares.
- Create a pumpkin workout where each letter of the word PUMPKIN stands for a different activity. For example, “P” could stand for 10 push ups.
- Hold a pumpkin rolling challenge. Give each student a pumpkin to roll from one end of the room to the other. See who can roll his/her pumpkin first.
- Hold a pumpkin lifting challenge. See which student can lift the heaviest pumpkin or carry the most pumpkins at once.
- Play a game of “Steal from the Pumpkin Patch.” Give each student two flags to hang out of their pockets and have students try to steal the other team’s pumpkin from the patch without getting their flags stolen.
- Play a round of pumpkin bowling. Set up empty soda bottles and roll a pumpkin to try and knock them down.
- Follow the pumpkin path by laying down construction paper pumpkins around the room. Challenge students to walk around the room by only stepping on the pumpkins.
- Have students try to walk around the room while balancing a pumpkin on their heads.
- Pass a pumpkin around the room, but don’t let students use their hands. A smaller pumpkin works best for this game.
- Go on a walk through a pumpkin patch.
- Play pumpkin ring toss and have students try to land a cardboard ring on a pumpkin’s stem.
- Hold a pumpkin relay race, where students must race while holding a pumpkin, and pass the pumpkin to a different team member at certain points in the race.
- Have a pumpkin toss. Let two students toss a small pumpkin back and forth. With each successful toss, they take a step back. The pair of students who toss the pumpkin back and forth the longest win.
- Get out the finger paints and let students paint their pumpkins however they want.
- Use yarn or string and have students wrap their pumpkins to create fun designs.
- Blow up an orange balloon and wrap it in yarn coated in glue. Once the glue dries, pop the balloon and remove it. Add a stem and leaf to complete the pumpkin.
- Cut an apple in half, dip it in orange paint, and stamp it on paper. Add faces and stems to create pumpkin faces.
- Tear up pieces of orange tissue paper or construction paper. Have students glue them onto a pumpkin shape.
- Remove and dry the seeds from a pumpkin. Have students glue the seeds to construction paper to create patterns or fun pictures.
- Place a piece of construction paper on a pumpkin paper and rub a crayon on it to create a fun pumpkin rubbing.
- Make construction paper pumpkins with a variety of different faces which will also help students learn about emotions.
- Cut out construction paper shapes and tape them to pumpkins to make different pumpkin animals.
- Cut strips of orange paper and arrange them to create a pumpkin shape (gluing them at the top and bottom of the pumpkin. Add a construction paper stem and leaf.
- Make a thumbprint pumpkin patch, by having students put orange thumbprints on a piece of paper, and then drawing in stems and leaves.
- Sponge paint a white paper plate with orange paint. Add a construction paper stem and let students draw or glue on construction paper shapes to make a face.
- Practice mixing red and yellow paint to make orange, and then use the orange paint to paint a picture of a pumpkin.
- Glue googly eyes and stems onto orange pom poms to make a pom pom pumpkin patch.
- Have students make construction paper pumpkins and cut out pictures from magazines to glue on for the facial features.
- Have students make a fence out of construction paper strips and glue on five construction paper pumpkins to accompany the song “Five Little Pumpkins.”
- Have students create a square pumpkin to go along with the story Spookley the Square Pumpkin.
- Paint rocks orange and paint on faces with black paint to make small jack-o-lanterns.
- Make pumpkin sculptures by stacking pumpkins in unique ways and gluing them together with hot glue (used with teacher supervision).
- Let kids use a hammer and a nail or a drill (with supervision) to make holes in a pumpkin. Add a candle to see how the light shines through. Repost Help Teaching
