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Pumpkin Themed Learning Activities for Preschoolers

What pairs better with Fall than pumpkins? We’ve got a bunch of fun and simple pumpkin activities that kids at a preschool in Silver Spring can enjoy at home this fall season. These pumpkin projects are great for kids aged 3-6, and they’re also a hit with kindergarten and early elementary kids! Absolutely! You can dive deeper with more pumpkin science experiments and fun art activities!

Check out these easy ideas to make the most of your Fall learning all season long! Finding supplies is a breeze, and using budget-friendly pumpkins opens up fantastic opportunities for fun, hands-on play, and learning.

Simple, Fun, and Creative Pumpkin Activities Kids Will Love

Pumpkin Sink or Float

This activity shows two important scientific concepts: buoyancy and density. Things will float when they are less dense than water. Did you know that pumpkins have air pockets inside them? These little pockets help them float, even though they’re pretty big! Acorns and other heavier items tend to sink.

The shape plays a role in buoyancy, too! Things that distribute weight evenly or hold air inside, like leaves, tend to float better. As kids play with different materials, they’ll discover how these elements come together in everyday situations.

Caregivers at a Silver Spring preschool will encourage kids to guess which items will sink and which will float! Feel free to jot down their predictions! Put each item in the water and see what happens! Encouraging children to observe is great—some items might float at first but will sink eventually!

collage of pumpkins on the ground - great for hand on learning for kids during the holidays season.

Pumpkin Volcano

The pumpkin volcano is such a fun example of a chemical reaction! Feel free to use any pumpkin you like, whether it’s white or orange! Baking pumpkins are often just the right size; you can find them at grocery stores. Mini pumpkins are a great option, too!

An adult should use a knife to carefully cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin. Next, you’ll want to clean out the insides. They’re perfect for a pumpkin sensory bag or a fun pumpkin investigation tray!

Next, the kids add about 1/4 cup of baking soda to the pumpkin. For a foamier eruption, add a squirt of dish soap! Adding dish soap will create frothier bubbles and lead to more overflow during the chemical eruption.

Feel free to add some food coloring to the vinegar for a more vibrant color eruption! Pouring your vinegar into a container that’s easy for the little ones to use is a great idea. Pouring directly from a container into the pumpkin will create a more exciting volcano effect!

Pumpkin Fairy House

To begin, cut a hole in the back of the pumpkin. Check to see if your hand can fit inside. Through this hole, you can set up the scene inside the pumpkin. Remove the guts from the pumpkin. Wash and dry the seeds so you can play make-believe with them later.

Pick out where you want the windows to go. Make a line on the pumpkin that looks like a window. Cut out the shape carefully with a knife, just like you would when carving a pumpkin. Remember to have an adult watch you.

Caregivers at a preschool in Silver Spring, MD, share that the fun part is what comes next. Add little touches of color to your white pumpkin fairy house. With pumpkin seeds, a table, cups, chairs, and a cozy kitchen, that’s what we did with ours. Make up your own magical fairy home and let your imagination run wild!

Woman with her son in the kitchen prepare pumpkin for a volcano experiment.

Pumpkin Math Activities

Pumpkins are fantastic for hands-on learning experiences. You can enjoy so many fun pumpkin math activities with just one little pumpkin!

Pumpkin Circumference

You can use a pliable measuring tape or some string to measure the circumference of several different pumpkins. After you measure and compare pumpkins of various sizes, spend some time chatting about which one has a larger or smaller circumference!

Pumpkin Patterns

Have fun using pumpkin stickers, paint, or various colored markers to make patterns on the pumpkin’s surface! You might begin with a fun ABAB pattern and invite the kids to keep it going!

Pumpkin seeds with a scoop and a couple of small pumpkins on a yellow backgound.

Playing with Pumpkin Seeds

Once you’ve carved or opened a pumpkin, let the kids have fun counting the seeds inside! This activity is perfect for strengthening counting skills and introducing the idea of one-to-one correspondence!

Draw a straightforward graph on paper with sections labeled “Big Seeds” and “Small Seeds.” While kids count pumpkin seeds, please encourage them to sort each seed into the correct category on the graph.

Pumpkin Oobleck

These measurements are what we recommend for half a pumpkin. You can always adjust the recipe as needed! Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the guts and seeds. This is a great time to chat about pumpkin parts or the life cycle, too!

Grab 1 cup of cornstarch and pour it into the pumpkin. Mix in about a half cup of water with the pumpkin. Give it a good mix with your hands! If the mixture seems a little too runny, add a touch more cornstarch! Is it a bit dry? Could you please add a little more water? Just be sure to add tiny amounts little by little!

If the mixture seems a bit too runny, just add a little more cornstarch. If it’s too thick, you can adjust it, too! You can definitely pick it up like a solid and then watch it start to ooze like a liquid! That’s Oobleck in a nutshell! This is just a friendly reminder that you might want to tweak the number and size of the pumpkin guts in your pumpkin!

A little cheerful girl holds an orange pumpkin in the park in the Fall.

Pumpkin Playdough

To begin, you will need about two cups of cornstarch and one 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree. Pour the can of pumpkin puree into a bowl. Start shaking in the cornstarch, adding about half a cup at a time. Grab a spoon or spatula to mix everything together nicely! Every brand of puree varies in moisture content, so the amount of cornstarch needed will depend on how moist it is.

Mix and add until it gets to a fun playdough-like texture! Give it a gentle touch to make sure it’s not sticky anymore. If it’s sticky, add small amounts of cornstarch until it feels nice and smooth again! If you happen to add a bit too much cornstarch, no worries! Just add a few drops of water to bring it back to the right consistency. Feel free to sprinkle in a few tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice for a delightful festive aroma!

Final Thoughts On All the Fun Pumpkin Themed Learning Activities for Preschoolers

Caregivers at our preschool in Silver Spring can’t stress just how important it is to engage in hands-on learning activities with preschoolers! Hands-on pumpkin preschool activities allow your kids to develop important early skills while exploring and learning new concepts in fun and exciting ways.

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