1-2-3 Come Do Some Pumpkin Craftivities With Me

Quite a few of my most popular downloads are those that involve a hands-on craft.  With all of the standards we have to teach, I realize that many teachers don't feel that they have any time left in their day for the "fun" things they used to do. 

With that in mind, I try to incorporate some standards in the crafts that I design, thus the name "craftivities".  I decided to feature  A Baker's Dozen   of my all-time favorite pumpkin craftivities in this article, since the number 13 can certainly be associated with Halloween.  Although I've used the term a baker's dozen for years, I didn't know why it came about.  If you're curious too, click on the link. 

Since Apple Sense was such a huge hit, I decided to make a Pumpkin Sense one.  This is a quick, easy and fun way to review the 5 senses, as well as work on the importance of adjectives in descriptive writing. 

Having a carved class pumpkin isn't necessary, but really helps.  Adding a hand print leaf and photo adds that finishing touch.

Another writing craftivity is the Personal Pumpkin Patch Craft.Family relationship names, (mom, dad, sister, brother etc.) are a part of most teacher's word walls, so I wanted to think of something that would tie into building that vocabulary. 

Via a note home to parents, which is included in the packet,  you'll have the personal information needed to help your kiddo's make a personal pumpkin. 

There are also family word cards that you can use in a pocket chart or for flashcards, plus several worksheets and a Tally Time activity with math extensions.

Pumpkins In The News  reinforces the letter Pp, and has a variety of writing options as well. Students find and cut out shapes to make a pumpkin face, as well as letters that spell their name.  These will be used for the pumpkin's smile.  They can also search for all of the letter Pps on their pumpkin and circle them.

 For writing practice, younger students trace and write the Pp is for pumpkin worksheet and glue it to the back of their pumpkin.  Brainstorm with older students of why pumpkins might be in the news.  They choose a topic and then write about it on the pumpkin template, trim and then glue to the back of their newsprint pumpkin. 

Punch a hole in the stem and suspend from the ceiling. There's also a pattern for a class-made book entitled: The Case Of The Missing Pumpkins. 

The Shapely Pumpkin Packet  reviews 2D shapes and includes a spinner game and worksheet. Sponge painting is a super-fun, non-messy way for little ones to paint with awesome results.

I've been doing the Peekin' In A Pumpkin for 15 years.  It also reviews shapes, as a Jack-O-Lantern face is on the front. The "guts" of the pumpkin are on the other side. 

I put a dollop of Elmer's glue with a bit of yellow paint in the middle and let my students swirl it around with a Q-tip, then glue bits of yarn and real pumpkin seeds on, for an awesome result.

Add a bit of science to your day with the Life Cycle Of A Pumpkin Craftivity.  There are 3 options for this cute pumpkin bowl craft. 

You can review 2D shapes and have students draw a Jack-O-Lantern face on the back, or you can teach some pumpkin facts with the pumpkins ARE, HAVE, CAN writing prompt; (I've included a completed sample.) or you can explain the life cycle of a pumpkin, and have students color, trim and glue that circle to the back of their pumpkin bowl. 

Curling ribbon and a child's hand print leaf add the finishing touches.  These look terrific suspended from the ceiling too.

The  Triple Play Pumpkin  also has 3 options.  

One involves measurement activities, another investigates the inside and outside of a pumpkin and uses adjectives to record findings; while the last one involves writing about things that scare you. 

This is a 3 dimensional pumpkin as students glue 3-4 paper circles together.

We do a lot of singing in Y5's.  It's a fun way to learn all sorts of things, review concepts and the children really enjoy it.  One of their favorite October songs was Pumpkin Round and Fat. 

When I Googled the song, I found a sweet Popsicle stick puppet over at Teacher Mama.  Click on the link for a pattern and my version. Pumpkin Puppet.

If you're a homeschooling parent and looking for an awesome, but easy fall centerpiece that your child can make, then I think you'll enjoy the  Dryer Hose Pumpkin.

This idea has been around for decades, but I just learned of it a few years ago when I met a crafty gal at Hobby Lobby.  I actually made these with my Y5's.  Their mommies were really impressed, as they turned out so cute.  They cost about $1 each to make.

If you haven't made puffy paint by mixing shaving cream, Elmer's glue and tempera, then you're in for a treat. 

This photo doesn't do justice to how absolutely awesome these turned out, as our pumpkins puffed up to over an inch high when they dried.

We also revisit this technique in January when we make snowmen.  Click on the link for the Puffy Pumpkin.  To see a photo of our snowmen click here. For some reason, you can see the puffiness much better in the snowman pictures.

Finally, to round out my baker's dozen, I wanted to share 3 outstanding pumpkin crafts that I found Online. 

Tammy's Kool Aid Pumpkins from over at Housing a Forest, has been pinned over 1,000 times from my pumpkin Pinterest board.  She has a quick tutorial of how to make these terrific-looking pumpkins that smell scrumptious.

Mrs. Withrow, over at Garden of Praise, makes these adorable Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater nursery rhyme pumpkins with her kinders, and substitutes their name for the word wife.  LOVE the pictures she took of her kiddos to place inside.

Lastly, but not "leastly" is a sweet paper plate pumpkin Mask, from over at DLTK Kids. 

If you don't have time to have each child make one, whip 5 different Jack-O-Lanterns up yourself, and have students use them as manipulatives to act out the popular 5 Little Pumpkins Sitting On A Gate poem.

Mrs. Alvarado over at Learning Safari does this with 5 large tag board pumpkins.  Too cute!

Whew! That's a whole "lotta" pumpkin stuff. Hopefully you found a few things to add some extra fun to your pumpkin activities. 

I'm off to do some much-needed grocery shopping.  Maybe my grandson and I will make a stop at the farmer's market to pick out a pumpkin!  Wishing you a fun-filled day!

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Do Nine Fine Pumpkin On The Vine Math Activities With Me

I have so many fun pumpkin activities to share, that I thought I'd feature 9 of my favorites that I use to teach all sorts of math standards.

A quick, easy and fun way to review numbers from 1-30, counting backwards from 20 or 10 to 0; plus skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's & 10's is with the pumpkin slider. There are 3 different pumpkin patterns for children to choose from. 

So that you can also review upper & lowercase letters, I included those traceable strips as well.  Sliders are a great way to whole group assess as you play an "I Spy!" game.

If you're working on telling time with your kiddos, the Pumpkin Time cards are perfect for a pocket chart or use as flashcards.

They review analog and digital time to the hour as well as time to the half hour.   Make extra sets for students to play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games. I've included a tip list of other things you can do with the cards, plus a Kaboom game.

For more telling time reinforcement, your kiddos will enjoy the  "It's Pumpkin Time!" games.  There are dice as well as spinner games. 

Both reinforce digital as well as analog time.  I've included blank templates to use as an assessment tool, or for students to make mini time booklets.

Have you started working on money?  Then I think you'll enjoy Pumpkin Payment. 

Several standards are covered in this easy-reader pumpkin coin booklet that reinforce coins and shapes. 

Students trace and write the coin word, the value of the coin, plus the shape word.  They trace the shape and then draw it on the pumpkin; cutting and gluing the coin(s) to the matching numbered boxes.

Are you looking for some measurement activities? Help students practice measurement, by using apples and pumpkins.

You can run this packet off as an entire booklet for each child to work on, or use one worksheet each day during your math or science time. 

I have pages where students measure with blocks, and other worksheets where students measure with a real scale and a yardstick.  Click on the link for Pumpkin & Apple Measurement Activities

More measurement activities can be found in the Pumpkin Investigation Booklet. 

Students measure height, weight, width and circumference of a pumpkin. They trace and write vocabulary-building words, predict, answer questions, + collect and analyze data.

I think most teachers cover the life cycle of a pumpkin to add a bit of science into their day. 

With that in mind, I designed From Seeds To Pumpkin Pie: a quick, easy and awesome looking life cycle of a pumpkin craftivity.  Ever mindful of standards, I included some shape & fraction fun to go with it. 

The front of the pumpkin reviews all of the 2D basic shapes, including the hexagon, as students design their Jack-O-Lantern. (K.G.2)

The back of the pumpkin converts into a pie and is divided into quarters that show the pumpkin's life cycle. To make it look like a "real" pie tin, I covered a paper plate with aluminum foil. 

Two fraction worksheets are included, to work on dividing circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares. Students describe the sections using the words halves, fourths & quarters. (1.G.3) Completed projects look terrific suspended from the ceiling.

Finally, the Seed Sorting packet, helps you to continue with a bit more science, while covering all sorts of math standards:  Data collection & analysis, sorting, comparing & contrasting, predicting, guess-timating, counting, sequencing, greater than, less than & equal to, plus graphing. 

You can do these activities as a whole group, or set things up as a center and have students work independently on their own seed worksheets.

The easy reader My Seed Booklet, is a matching activity. You can simply make a booklet to share with your students, so that they can see the different kinds of popular fall seeds, or have each child make their own booklet by drawing the seeds. 

Since you can buy packages of popcorn, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, you may want your students to glue some real ones to their booklet as well.  You can always use the leftovers for all sorts of counting and sorting activities.

If you're looking for a few more math-related pumpkin activities, scroll down to another blog article filled with even more fall FREEBIES.

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  I hope you found a few things to get your kiddos excited about math, while learning a bit of science too. 

I'm off to the farmer's market to buy a few small pumpkins and gourds; I love decorating for fall.   Wishing you a colorful autumn day filled with ed-venture!

"Those who live in the past limit their future."  -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Do Some Pumpkin Math With Me

I'm really enjoying fall.  Love the wonderful weather, and the leaves are just starting to turn here in Michigan. 

I've had a few requests for some simple pumpkin games that teachers can use as an independent center. Several visitors have also asked for some pumpkin-themed number word activities.

With that in mind, I just finished the cute Pumpkin Fun Number Packet. It's 22 pages, and includes a seed counting game, where students match the stem with a number on it, to the pumpkin with the number word on it. 

From there, students count to find the matching "pumpkin guts".  These are circles with pumpkin seeds on them from 1-20. 

To make the game self-checking, write the number on the back of the seed circles and pumpkins. 

If you want, run off copies, so that students can make their own Counting Pumpkin Seeds booklet. They glue the stem to the pumpkin and then staple the edge of the seed circle so that it flips up. 

I've included a cover for them to staple to the front.  This would involve quite a bit of cutting, so you may want students working on this for several days, or simply have them do numbers 0-10. This is a nice fit for Daily 5 word work.

For more practice matching numbers to their number word, I've included 2 trace and write worksheets.  These are great for early finishers, your sub folder or homework.

A slice of pumpkin, is another worksheet, where students trace and write the number and dot that many seeds in the appropriate section.  When they are done, they color the picture.

There's also a "Show Me The Number" activity.  These can be done as a separate table top worksheet for your math block, or run off and staple into a booklet and have students work on a new number each day. 

Before you work on any of these activities, I suggest reviewing numbers and number words. 

I've included a set of pocket chart cards and a poster to help you.  Students can refer to them as they work independently.  

Click on the link to view/download the Pumpkin Number Fun packet.

For another pumpkin-themed number word game click on the link. 

This one helps strengthen finger muscles, as students use clothespins to make matches. 

Seven Pumpkin Games is  another FREEBIE that reinforces numbers. 

As a teacher, I incorporate games because my students really enjoy them, and I can cover a variety of math concepts, while helping them improve their "life skills" at the same time. 

If you want to work on higher numbers, click on the Pumpkin Math packet to practice numbers 1-120. 

You can cover quite a few Common Core State Standards with this "Let's Count Pumpkins" packet, which includes an easy reader where students read, trace and write the numbers, plus circle them in a sequence. 

To cover more standards, children circle capital letters, add end punctuation to the simple sentences, plus count the pumpkins in the group/set and color the puffy numbers as well.

The packet also includes trace and write worksheets for counting from 0 to 120, plus skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's, and 10's.

Click on the link for a larger set of pumpkin number cards, that you can use in a variety of ways: pocket chart cards, a number line, games such as "I Have; Who Has?" and Memory Match; plus students can practice making up equations, and showing greater than or less than.

Finally, if you use 10 frames with your kiddos, I've made a pumpkin-themed 10 frames set. 

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting. 

I'm off to the dungeon (also known as my basement) to haul up some autumn decorations.  Wishing you a fabulous fall.

"It might be hard at times, but hard is not impossible." -Unknown