Pumpkin Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten

Its September! Time for visiting pumpkin patches and making pumpkin pie. Today I’m sharing a list of pumpkin-related activities you can do with your kids.

These ideas would be great for building a pumpkin-themed unit study for your homeschool or classroom OR for planning a few fun pumpkin themed activities for the season. Here we go!

What can my child learn from studying pumpkins?

So many things! Pumpkins are a wonderful topic to jump into, especially with little ones. From observing varieties to labeling pumpkin parts, kids can learn a lot from this topic, here are a few ideas:

• pumpkin life cycle and how it grows
• pumpkins are fruit and are part of the gourd family
• size, color, and varieties of pumpkins
• season of autumn
• cooking and processing food
• parts of a pumpkin
• an empathy for farmers and the work it takes to grow pumpkins
• ways to use pumpkin
• experiencing feelings of autumn
• giving and sharing

Objectives for a preschool pumpkin unit

• Identify general characteristics of pumpkins (shape, color, taste, etc)
• Identify the parts of a pumpkin
• Explain the different ways we can use pumpkins
• Build preschool and kindergarten skills through pumpkin-themed music, crafts, activities, math, language, and imaginative play.

Picture Books About Pumpkins

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• Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White
• The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll
• The Pumpkin Fair by Eve Bunting
• Ready for Pumpkins by Kate Duke
• County Fair by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Pumpkin Town by Katie McKy
• The Very Best Pumpkin by Mark Kimball Moulton
• Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington
• The Bumpy Little Pumpkin by Margery Cuyler
• Its Pumpkin Time by Zoe Hall

Printable Pumpkin Poem

l always like to add a memory piece to our units. Here is our pumpkin poem download if you would like to add it to your pumpkin unit as well.

Pumpkin toy and prop ideas

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• Pumpkin push pop fidget toy
• Pumpkin memory matching game (emotional intelligence)
• Mouse in pumpkin finger puppet
• Pumpkin squeeze sensory balls
• Pumpkin Patch Banner
• light string
• Pumpkin Patch Bingo
• Pumpkin dress up costume

Music and videos about pumpkins

• Where is Thumbkin? (song)
• I Love Pumpkins (song)
• Parts of a Pumpkin (Video)
• How Do Pumpkins Grow (Video)
• Growing Pumpkins from Seed to Fruit (Time Lapse)
• A Pumpkin Grows (Video)

Pumpkin Craft Ideas

• Pumpkin Do a Dot Worksheet (Free Printable)
• Paper Plate Pumpkin Tamborine
• Toilet Paper Roll Pumpkin Craft
• Paper Weaving Pumpkins
• Paper Mosaic Pumpkins

Pumpkin Activities

• Pumpkin Sensory Bin Ideas
• Make mandarin orange pumpkin treats (healthy snack)
• Roast and season pumpkin seeds
• Sprout pumpkin seeds
• Carve a pumpkin
• Paint a pumpkin
• Visit a pumpkin patch
• Pumpkin Life-Cycle Worksheets (free printables)

Pumpkin Math Ideas

• Practice estimation, counting, and skip counting with the seeds in a pumpkin
• Work basic addition and subtraction using pumpkin seeds
• Create a pumpkin geoboard and practice making shapes and patterns
• Practice early measurement using pumpkins
• Make a pumpkin number line
• Pumpkin addition mats
• Roll and count pumpkin mazes (Free printable)

Pumpkin Literacy and Writing

• Pumpkin Name Puzzles
• Fall Pumpkin Emergent Reader
• Pumpkin Literacy Activities (Free Printables)
• Rhyming pumpkin puzzels
• Pumpkin patch sight word center
• Pumpkin alphabet clip cards
• Fall Prewriting
• Pumpkin busy book

Dramatic Play ideas for Preschool Pumpkin Theme

• Pumpkin Patch Dramatic Play
• Farmer’s market pretend play
• Pie stand dramatic play
• Baking pumpkin pie station
• Playdough pumpkin pie shop

Free Printable pumpkin-themed unit study plan for moms and teachers

For my homeschool moms and teacher friends, I’ve complied all these ideas into a printable resource. This unit builder includes everything in this post and also leaves room for you to add material lists and notes. 

Whether you are creating a pumpkin-themed lesson plan for preschool or kindergarten or just thinking of adding some pumpkin activities into your homeschool preschool unit later this year, this is a great printable resource to reference, with a lot of ideas to choose from!

Download the Pumpkin Unit Study Plan 

This printable is part of the Inspire the Mom free resource library. If you are already a member, hop on over to the free resource page. If not, fill out the quick form below and join for access to this freebie as well as other great content.

What would you add to a preschool unit about pumpkins?

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