What to do with ALL those pumpkins?

Have the students estimate the pumpkins weight, then actually weigh the pumpkin. To make it more difficult - use a bathroom scale. First the students weigh themselves and then they get on the scale with the pumpkin. Have the students subtract the first weight from the second to get the weight of the pumpkin!

Estimate the circumfrence of the pumpkin by having the students cut a piece of yarn that they think will fit around the pumpkin. Sort pieces by too short, too long and just right

Carve a Pumpkin Online

Use the five senses to describe the pumpkin...It looks like________.  It feels like_______.  It smells like_____________. etc.

Compare pumpkins to apples. Use a Venn Diagram to do this!

Pass out cards with numbers on them, have students glue seeds to the given number.

Use pumpkin seeds to make a picture.

make a KWL chart of pumpkin facts.

Pumpkin Facts!

Most pumpkins are various shade of orange, but did you know that some varieties are yellow, white, or even other colors?

Most pumpkins weigh about 15 - 30 pounds. Still, some weigh as much as 800 pounds.

Spookly the Square Pumpkin...

Meet Spookley
– the friendliest square pumpkin in the patch! He’s not your ordinary pumpkin. Spookley is different from the rest of the pumpkins. All of the other pumpkins teased Spookley until he proved that being different can save the day! Kinda like a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for Halloween.

Here’s a super easy treat to share after reading the book. Spookly Marshmallow treats! Just dip the mallows in orange candy coating and top with a green tick-tac. Attach this printable to your treat and you are ready to hand out Spookly!

You must like Spookly on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Spookley-the-Square-Pumpkin/201857693191092

and while you are at it, like Teaching Heart too!!!

https://www.facebook.com/Spookley?sk=wall#!/pages/Teaching-Heart-wwwteachingheartnet/111345987534

Pumpkin Poems, Songs, and Fingerplays

Great Books To Make Your Pumpkin Unit Perfect!

Pumpkin Things to print

Recipe:
Many teachers look for this recipe. It has been a hit in my classroom. I found it was easier to use the paper cups.

Pumpkin Pudding Cones:
1/3 can of pumpkin pie filling with spices
8 oz. prepared whipped topping
2 packages of instant vanilla pudding
milk
ice cream cones

Let the children help mix the pudding with the milk according to instant pudding directions. 
Add the pumpkin pie filling and stir well (or use electric mixer).  The children then spoon the mixture into ice cream cones.  
"Frost" the tops with whipped topping. This works weel with small paper cups rather than
the icecream cones!

Here is an Easy Pumpkin Pie in a Cup Recipe - Click Here and you can download a free printable to match as well!

Be sure to read the book below when having fun with this recipe!!

Check out the playdough below. It is Pumpkin Pie Playdough! Click here to learn how to make it, Learning Fun will show you how!

The Stubborn Pumpkin

The Pumpkin Patch (Picture Puffins)

Early Themes: Apples, Pumpkins, and Harvest (Grades K-1)

A good resource for teachers!

Pumpkin Eye

Another fun idea is to introduce pumpkin vocabulary
on pumpkin cut-outs! As you show the students a word, discuss the word.

You may also wish to display these words on a pumpkin word bank.
During the October Month your students are sure to want to write
about pumpkins. A word bank will come in handy.

You could make your own as seen to the left or you could order the October through November CD and print and use the ones seen. To learn more about this CD go to:
http://www.teachingheart.net/cdindexseptdec.html

PUMPKIN MATH IDEAS

PUMPKIN MATH WITH SEEDS: Do not throw away those seeds, you can do many math activities with them. Try one of these great activities!
Estimate how many seeds are in the class pumpkin, graph the estimate. Count the seeds to see who was the closest. Guess how many cups your seeds will fill. Measure with unifix cubes how long your seeds will line up on the floor.

(place value counting)

• As you are cutting into the pumpkin discuss the possible number of seeds it may contain. Record predictions and determine the "range" of student predictions. (Take this opportunity to review the life cycle of the pumpkin and point out the relationship between the flower and the pumpkin fruit they now see.)

• Once the top has been removed, students will enjoy the messy fun of feeling the pulp and seeds as they help to clean out the pumpkin. Direct students to separate the seeds from the pulp.

• Provide each group with portion cups and some seeds. Students should count by groups of ten and place each group in a portion cup. (The excitement in each group as they realize how close they are to reaching 100 or more is fantastic!)

• Place a large sheet of butcher paper on a table. Divide into three sections and label: hundreds, tens, ones.

• Have each group place their portion cups in the tens’ column and any leftover seeds in the ones column.

• Regroup the ones’ column first, if possible.

• Counting by tens, regroup the portion cups into a larger container (called the hundreds cup) and place in the hundreds’ column.

• Record the number of seeds on the paper. (Our last year’s pumpkin yielded over 300 seeds!)

• Compare the actual number of seeds with their predictions.

Make a pumpkin counting book to "10 Little Pumpkins" use the small chart stickers. Pumpkin shaped chart stickers can be bought in bulk at Staples or your local teacher store. You could give each student 10 white squares. On page one they would write one little pumpkin and stick a pumpkin sticker. On the next page they would write, two little pumpkins and stick two pumpkin stickers on the page...

To make the above activity more difficult. You could have the students write math problems and then illustrate them with crayons and the pumpkin stickers.

Pumpkin Seed Math
Place some seeds from a pumpkin in a ziplock bag. Give each student a bag and a sheet of paper. Have them write a math problem using their seeds.

BULLETIN BOARDS THAT WOULD MATCH THIS UNIT!

Cut an orange pumpkin shape from construction paper for each child in the class.  Make it as big as a 8-1/2 X 11 piece of paper and cut a "door near the bottom big enough to display a picture of a child.  Let the child help you write three or four self describing clues on the front of the pumpkin followed by the question "Who am I?".  Tape a snapshot of the child near the bottom of her pumpkin then cover the snapshot with the "door" you cut.   Have the words "look Who's Hiding in the Pumpkin Patch!" written above all the pumpkins.

Click Here to See a Pumpkin Bboard!

A Board Shared With Teaching Heart From Sky Seery

The pumpkin bulletin board was really easy. Sometimes my students need a gentle reminder of how important it is to be quiet in the library. I used black fabric and had a boarder that have pumpkins on it. Then found some pumpkin cut outs that have faces on them. I used different book jackets. That would interest students in all grades, K-5.

  Kinder Themes
this site has some great ideas that
you will not find at other sites. Check out the idea for the small pumpkin candy holders!

Pumpkin Story Books & Ideas

KinderKorner
Victoria does it again with a great unit on pumpkins!

Try a Web Quest
The Great Pumpkin Detectictives

Do Pumpkins Float?

Display a large graph with the above question. Make a column for yes (yes, pumpkins float) and one for no (no they don't float). Give each student a cut-out of a pumpkin and have them place their pumpkin on the class graph. Discuss how many students think the pumpkins will float and how many think they won't. Give each group of students a sand pail filled with water and a small pumpkin. Allow them to see if the pumpkin floats. Have them discuss their findings with their group.

Pumpkin Glyphs

Here is another one
Pumpkin Glyph

• Start with the outline of a pumpkin.

• Rule 1 Which kind of candy do you like best? If it is chocolate, make circle eyes on your pumpkin. If it is candy corn, make triangles for eyes. If it is licorice, make rectangles for eyes.

• Rule 2 What kind of Halloween stories do you like best? If you like scary stories make a square nose. If you like gross stories make an upside down triangle. If you like funny stories make round nose.

• Rule 3 How many books have you read this week about halloween? Make a mouth with one tooth for each book that you have read.

• When the glyph pumpkins are completed the students can trade and try to decode what the pumpkins represent. The possiblities are endless.

Another Pumpkin Glyph Lesson

Objectives: Each student will create a jack-o-lantern glyph that accurately represents his or her answers to a series of questions. The        completed jack-o-lanterns will then be displayed in the classroom and the data will be interpreted by the class.

       Procedures:
       1-Review what a glyph is with the class. Explain that a glyph is a way to represent data pictorially.
       2-Pass out the blank pumpkins. Discuss that each student will be creating a jack-o-lantern face on the pumpkin by answering a series of questions about Halloween activites and favorite treats.
       3-Begin asking the questions listed below allowing enough time for each student to complete his or her answer before asking the next.
       Q1: Have you ever eaten pumpkin seeds? (The stem color needs to be colored brown if the answer isyes and green if it is no.)
       Q2: Do you like pumpkin pie? (Draw a smile if yes, a frown if no, and a sqiggly mouth if you do not know.)
       Q3: Do you like scary or happy jack-o-lanterns? (Draw a square nose if you like scary ones or a triangle nose if you like happy
       jack-o-lanterns.
       Q4: What is your favorite fall treat? (The eyes need to be triangles for carmel apples, circles for popcorn balls, upside down triangles for candy corn, and square if the answer is other.
       4-Allow students to color their jack-o-lanterns.
      5-The next part of the lesson requires each student or the class as a whole to interpret the data. Older students should do it on their own, while a whole class discuss would be more beneficial for younger students.
       6-Ask questions during the interpretation such as: which students like pumpkin pie/how do you know, how many students have eaten pumpkin seeds, which fall treat is liked the most or least/what is an easy way to keep track of the count (tally marks for example),etc.

       Extending the Lesson: This lesson can be made larger by including questions that require students to color the face different colors or the pumpkin yellow or orange and more.

       Closure/Assessment: If the students interpreted the glyphs individually assess their ability to accurately interpret them. You can also assess the students glyph. I suggest doing a glyph each month. It can either relate to a holiday or event during the month or relate to the student        (especially good at the beginning of the year as a getting to know you activity).

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