A Day of Pumpkins

Pumpkins pumpkins pumpkins

October 27, 2009

I know that this week I would not send out a newsletter but I feel that I have to tell you all about our morning together. Today was all about pumpkins and windy children .

Since it was a very windy day the children were also very windy too. I don’t know if you have ever thought about this but children seem to change with the weather. On windy day’s they seem to act extra twirly and are busy going from one activity to another…more so than usual .

We made pumpkin bread today and the smell of the classroom was simply delightful. I love this time of year with all the smells, they make me feel so cozy. We worked on measuring, counting, small motor skills when stirring and pouring, making a mess (a good mess) and cleaning it up, and waiting their turn to help. It was so cute when I measured out the flour and used my finger to level it off, one boy said: “my mom does that.” A lot of the children said that. I think it is wonderful that you have your child in the kitchen with you…they are learning so many things from you and watching your every move. Now that I really think about it I do believe that every child ate the pumpkin bread at snack time and I didn’t hear anyone say they didn’t like it.

We had a pumpkin patch at school where the children picked out their own pumpkin and took it home. We set up some pumpkins, scarecrows, and a pumpkin patch sign on the lawn. The children were so excited. We talked about the best way to hold the pumpkin. Of course the pumpkins kept slipping out of their hands and dropping on the ground. I am always surprised that there aren’t any pumpkins that break. We took a few pictures too .

We read a great book called Pumpkin Pumpkin. It is so simple, perfect for their age, and talks about how a pumpkin grows. I asked the children what we feed a pumpkin…do we feed it ice cream, pizza and spaghetti? No we feed it water, wind and sun…that is how a pumpkin grows. Of course there were a few giggles about the people food comment .

After we read the book we carved a pumpkin, well I carved a pumpkin. I started cutting the top of the pumpkin with a pumpkin carving knife which worked okay but then used a kitchen knife that worked the best. I talked with the children about being safe around knives and that only adults should use them. Each child had the opportunity to stick their hand inside and pull out the pulp and seeds. Some choose to do it while others choose to watch. I asked the children what it felt like and “slimy” was the most used word. Later I carved a face into the pumpkin.

I almost forgot about the finger-painting. The children finger-painted white construction paper pumpkins with orange paint. Light orange, orange, and glitter orange were the colors they had to choose from. They had a delightful time squishing the paint between their fingers and rubbing it onto their pumpkin (great small motor skills).

So to sum up our day…we made and ate pumpkin bread, read a pumpkin story, picked out a pumpkin to bring home, carved a pumpkin and finger-painted a pumpkin…Oh and we sang “5 Little Pumpkins.” Here is a link to the pumpkin bread and 5 little pumpkins if you are interested:

Pumpkin Bread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewtQv8tm5XE

5 Little Pumpkins: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9r65lQUqMg

Happy day,

Cullen