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 Measure Pumpkins With Me!

Since the Apple Investigation booklet was such an overwhelming success, I decided to make one for your pumpkin studies.  This quick and easy booklet, will help your kiddo's learn about measurement in an interesting and fun way.

Students measure height, weight, width and circumference of their pumpkin. They trace and write vocabulary-building words, predict, answer questions, + collect and analyze data.  Investigating pumpkins, will help with Common Core State Standards: K.MD.1a, K.MD.2, 1.MD.1, and 1.MD.2.

Introduce measurement, by showing students all of the measuring materials and ask them if they know the names of these objects and what they are used for. 

Discuss the value of measurement, as well as how and why people measure things. 

You can do this booklet as a whole group activity using one or two large pumpkins, have students work in groups of 2-5 sharing a pumpkin, or use miniature pumpkins, and ask for donations. 

One year I had a parent who grew the gourds that look like miniature pumpkins; they brought in an entire box full. Another year, a child's family grew pumpkins, and donated a class supply of really small ones.  Often, farm markets will give teachers a discount, if you simply ask. 

Allow a few minutes for children to really examine their pumpkin by touching it, smelling it, and then describing their pumpkin to a partner etc.  I think one of their favorite pages will be measuring a partner with a pumpkin.

To make this do-able for non or beginning readers, work on the booklet as a whole group.  Read the 1st page aloud and model what you want your students to do, then have children do that portion of their investigation with their pumpkin. 

If you are teaching PreK, you might want to do just 1 booklet as a class.  Older students can work on this independently.  Allow enough time, so children don't feel rushed, and everyone gets a turn using the scale etc. 

To expedite things, you may want to borrow several other scales from fellow teachers for that part of your day.  To keep interest, with little ones, and because of time, you can also work on just one or two pages a day.

When your pumpkin booklet is completed, read it aloud once more, and have children share their results as you read that page.

Reinforce vocabulary by reviewing the measurement tools and words, and asking students: "What is a scale? What is it used for?"  "What is height? How can you measure it?" etc.  Click on the link to view/download the Pumpkin Investigation booklet. Looking for more Pumpkin Activities? Click on the link to pop on over to that section of my site for lots more FREEBIES!

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away!  If you'd like to see all of the creative educational items I pin, click on the heart button to the right of the blog.  I have a board especially for pumpkin activities.

"The whole art of teaching, is the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds, for the purpose of satisfying them afterwards." -Anatole France