1-2-3 Come Do Some Activities For The "5 Little Pumpkins" Poem With Me

One of the seasonal poems I do for October, is “5 Little Pumpkins Sitting On a Gate”.   (Click this link to take a look at an animated version on YouTube.)

The poem is chock full of Dolch words, rhymes, has ordinal numbers and is a fun way to practice counting with little ones.

With that in mind, I made up some quick, easy and fun activities for the “5 Little Pumpkins”, which practice a variety of standards and am featuring 3 (hot-off-the-press) packets on the blog today. 

First up is a simple "flip the flap" craftivity, which is a super-fun way for students to read and share the "5 Little Pumpkins" poem.  

Besides the black and white templates for students, I’ve also included colorful patterns, so that you can quickly and easily make a sample to share.

Even if you don’t do this as a whole-group activity, you can whip one together for yourself to use as a storytelling manipulative, which will be a great visual for your students.

I’ve also included an “Itty Bitty” emergent reader booklet for children to color, cut and collate.

Have them pick a partner and take turns reading to each other, then encourage them to remember to read it to their families.  

Next up, is another quick "5 Little Pumpkins" craftivity. 

My kiddos absolutely LOVE making and wearing crowns, so I thought it would be fun to design 5 crown options for my own little pumpkins.

The patterns come in color as well as black and white.

Children color, trim around the crown, then glue the bottom to the center of a sentence strip, or length of card stock.

Bulletin board border also works really well, and adds extra pizzazz because you can choose either plain or a  Halloween-themed pattern. 

Afterwards I have my kiddos line up and we have a pumpkin parade, marching around the room to some spooky music. 

Finally, I created a jumbo, "5 Little Pumpkins" packet, with a nice assortment of simple activities which help practice a variety of standards.

The packet includes:

* 2 versions of the poem.
The original with the line “witches in the air”, as well as an optional poem which changes the line to “bats in the air”.

The poems come in a colorful poster, as well as black and white “color me” worksheets.

One features the words for emergent readers, while another alternative for PK kiddos, has just the pictures.

* I’ve also included a fence and 5 pumpkin manipulatives for telling the “story”.

There's also a colorful set of pocket chart, sentence cards. (For both versions.)

* Plus pocket chart cards that feature numbers 1-5, with the number words, and a group of pumpkins showing that many.

* There’s a matching set with “cutting lines” so that you can make an independent puzzle center, as well as a set of ordinal number cards children can sequence.

* Plus a set of "Memory Match" cards, which can also be used to play “I Have; Who Has?” games.

* An “Out went the light” storytelling-pumpkin craft
* 5 pumpkin-themed worksheets

* A “5 Little Pumpkins” Itty Bitty booklet
* A “Pumpkins On A Roll” dice game
* 2 “I Spy” a number game sheets, which are wonderful for whole group assessing.

* A pumpkin “slider” craftivity, which will help practice numbers 1-5, 1-10, counting backwards from 10-1, as well as skip counting by 5s. And finally…

* Pete the Cat has a “5 Little Pumpkins” book out, so I’ve included a worksheet where students “trace the numbers” and color the pumpkins who are “rolling out of sight” on a skateboard.  This is today's featured FREEBIE.  Click on the link to grab your copy.  

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. 

We are losing some of our beautiful autumn leaves today, as it's windy with a misty drizzle. 

Just the kind of weather for a spicy hot cup of apple cider and a good book.  Wishing you a peaceful and snuggly day.

"There's something about autumn that lifts up our senses and reminds us to truly take a moment to notice all of the beauty that surrounds us, which we sometimes take for granted." -Unknown

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