Week 3: Pumpkins

This week we decided to go ahead and celebrate fall.  We have been doing fall crafts for the past few weeks, but the theme was pumpkins.  I ordered two books off Amazon last week:

The Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs

This is a simple story about a farmer who plants pumpkins. Liz Curtis Higgs originally wrote this story in order to share The Good News with her kids during harvest season.  There are bible verses sprinkled through out the story on just about every page.  We learned that pumpkins come tall and lean, short and round, and even with lumps and bumps.  On this page for example was the following verse:

"My hand made all things.  All things are here because I made them, says the Lord." (Isaiah 66:22)

Halloween was never mentioned in this book which I thought was great.  Eventually the farmer chooses a pumpkin to carve and puts a candle inside.  At night the neighbors see the pumpkin's shining smiling face.  Liz Curtis Higgs finishes the story comparing the shining pumpkin to the way God offers us a chance to be full of light.

From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer

This book was more of a scientific look at how pumpkins grow.  The kids enjoyed this book but I think they will understand it better next year.  We ended up using The Pumpkin Patch Parable as the primary book for the week. 

So with those two books under our belt we began with some sensory basket fun.  This idea came from Sensory Bins @ 1plus1plus1equals1.net

I scoured the house looking for anything that looked like it belonged outside.  We planned ahead and the kids collected some leaves to add to the basket.

In our sensory basket we had; leaves, squash, pumpkins, acorns, corn, grapes, pine tree clippings and a few rocks. I put out a large sheet in our living room and dumped the basket out for the kids.  The baby who is 14 months old loved it! The twins enjoyed this game as well...

Next we worked on a puzzle which focused on number sequences.   Pumpkin Printables 

We also learned the difference between pumpkins without faces and pumpkins with faces or jack-o-lanterns!  The twins first experience with using glue by themselves.  Of course they couldn't get enough of it!

I decided I was going to be brave and let them help me carve a pumpkin.  I think I had been worried it would be much messier than it actually turned out to be.

Our next project was glue the face on the pumpkin.  More glue, again a hit.

I wanted to get a painting activity in this week so I decided to make pumpkin potato stamps.

We ended up with a great picture of a pumpkin patch! I hung it on the window for a few days...

Grandma came to watch the kids one day so I gave her a cooking project.  Pumpkin brownies or Pumpkies YUMMY! I ended up making another batch myself they were so good. 

A few months ago I bought two pairs of little preschool scissors. Here they are working with them for the first time. It took a while for my daughter to get the hang of how to hold them.  Also a great opportunity to teach them safety! 

Next I brought out the pumpkin seeds I saved and roasted a few days before.  The letter of the week was P so the twins pasted the seeds on a P.  Once again glue was involved and once again they loved this activity.

We worked on some more lacing to finish up the week.  I cut out and laminated a picture of a pumpkin, and then punched holes around the edges.

Last, but not least, I was browsing YouTube looking for something appropriate the kids could watch while I was making lunch one day.  I came across the "Where is Pumpkin" song.  YouTube has a lot of great things for kids as long as you filter them of course!

Unfortunately we were not able to get together in our preschool co-op do to some colds that are going around.  I will post more on the co-op at a later date!