Super Simple Pumpkin Craft & Activity for Kids

What the heck even happened to October, Sweet Friends? Scary, wicked how time flies! This past weekend we did our annual trip to the pumpkin patch and the pickins were a little slim…(And it was an absolute crowded, crazy zoo…People in huge lines to ride a tractor and buy kettle corn…It was a NO for me. I don’t do lines or crowds well–unless we’re talking about Disney World.) But my littles are so proud and excited about their pumpkins…So of course, I took full advantage of the season & their peaking interest to explore pumpkins in our homeschool. I’ve got a super cute and super simple pumpkin craft and activity for kids–let’s dig in! (Plus a few great pumpkin books to add to your collection!)

Thinking About Pumpkins…

To start our lesson, we chit-chatted about our trip to the pumpkin patch, and then they picked a pumpkin book for me to read-aloud. I just purchased 3 new books to go with our little pumpkin unit: Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum, The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons and From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer. (I supposed I could have ordered them at the library–but pumpkin books in October usually have quite a wait list! Anyhoo–that’s my excuse!)

Making a Mess…

After we did a little reading, we made a big mess. I decided to carve one of the pumpkins from the patch so the kids could really make connections about what we read and prepare them for the upcoming craft and activity.

It was also a great sensory activity–lots of smells and strange textures! The kids helped me dig out all the seeds, which we later roasted.

Apply the Learning…

Now, I’m not usually a “cutter & paster,” with my kids…I think years of cutting and pasting EVERY.THING in public school scarred me (the boredom and useless twaddle–truly mind & finger numbing). So I’ve gone the complete opposite direction and forbid my kids to cut and paste–OKAY, so I don’t forbid it…but we NEVER do it!

**Probably should clarify…My kids actually cut and paste a TON, but it’s usually completely open-ended, create-whatever-you-want stuff…

But–I wanted to see how a little structured cutting and pasting would go…So I gave my kids a “Cut-and-Paste” the pumpkin parts worksheet, and we sat down and worked together. After they labeled the pumpkin parts, we made our own pumpkins.

(My subscribers can find this Simple Pumpkin Craft and Activity in the Free Subscriber Resource Library! If you aren’t already a subscriber–grab your pumpkin worksheets HERE!)

My kids thought this activity was the bee’s knees. And it showed me that–truly there are some benefits to throwing in a little structured cut & paste activity!

My kids were super focused.
It was great for their fine motor skills!
They enjoyed the process and felt excitement as they worked towards completion.
They were really proud of their final products.
It was a novel way (for them) to express their new learning.

I did leave it a little open ended…

To create your own pumpkin, the paper can be lined up to show the inside of the pumpkin, OR you could put it together and decorate the outside of the pumpkin. My kids decided to glue the inside together, and then staple the rind on–they wanted to make faces and decorate the pumpkins.