Pumpkin Week

We have been enjoying lots of fall-themed activities already this month, so it wasn't a huge surprise when the sprouts requested to have  Pumpkin Week next. It was a great opportunity to work on some science and math, in addition to enjoying pumpkin-themed read alouds.

Measuring the circumference of our pumpkin.

We started off the week by reading Pick a Pumpkin, Mrs. Millie! and making some delicious chocolate-chip pumpkin bread (because even pumpkin bread is better with chocolate).

Thankfully the kids liked cleaning the pumpkin out more than I do!

Then we enjoyed reading Pumpkin Day! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. We also took the time to observe and measure a pumpkin using non-standard and standard measurements.

First sprout made the excellent choice to group the seeds by tens, we ended up with 750 total-- whew!

After reading How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? By Margaret McNamara, we made observations about the inside of a pumpkin, estimated the numbers of seeds, and counted them. The sprouts were so excited about carving a jack-o-lantern, that we went ahead and did it the same day even though I had planned on saving it for when we read Five Little Pumpkins.

Appropriately spooky pumpkin face. The sprouts have named him "Wicked Jack."

Pumpkin Week isn't over yet, but we have zipped through all of the big activities I had planned. Tomorrow will probably be time for us to write about the steps to carve a pumpkin, and maybe do some more baking (I'm thinking pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting!). If the weather cooperates, we will probably head to the local pumpkin patch for even more fun.

Happy Learning!