Exploring Pumpkin Lesson Plans Free File with Pumpkin Life Cycle Activities
Enjoy these pumpkin lesson plans where we explored the life cycle of a pumpkin. Science, math, literacy, and fine motor skills are included in this week’s pumpkin activities.
Just as fall brings out the fans of all things pumpkin spice, it also means it’s time to break out the pumpkin-themed lesson plans for kindergarten! Just ask Cinderella; she knew there was something magical about pumpkins! Pumpkins have a unique way of being perfectly cast in the starring role of so many engaging books, lesson plans, stories, and activities for your kindergarten class. These pumpkin lesson plans are a small part of a larger fall unit with fun ideas, lesson plans and activities—perfect for getting kids excited about autumn, while learning too.
Pumpkin Life Cycle Read Aloud Book
Pumpkin Circle by Geor Levenson is a beautiful book about the life cycle of pumpkins. The real photographs are beautiful! We inclided this nonfiction book in our Engaging Readers Reading Comprehension units for October.
Pumpkin Lesson Plans – What we already know
On the first day with this pumpkin book, we ask students to think about what they already know about pumpkins. Then as we read more on the subject, we can confirm or adjust our thinking. Here are a few examples that were written by second grade students. In each of our reading comprehension units, we offer a variety of response options. For kindergarten, student making their meaning know through the pictures they draw.
Here are a few examples from kindergarten students. As you can see, most of the meaning is made through the illustrations.
Pumpkin Life Cycle Anchor Chart
We also create a chart that shows the life cycle of a pumpkin. After we complete this chart together, students get knee-to-knee with their partner as they discuss the pumpkin’s life cycle. As the teacher, it is my job to evesdrop. I like to support their oral language as well as their use of transitions words. It might sound a little like this (this is an actual conversation that took place in a first grade classroom):
First, the seeds come out of the pumpkin. Then they are planted in the group. The seedling spouts out. Next the plant grows into a vine and flowers grow. The flower is called a pumpkin blossom. The pumpkin plossom turns into a small pumpkin. The pumpkin starts out green, but finally it grows into a big orange pumpkin!
It is important that each student has the opportunity to orally practice telling about the text details. With time and practice, this will quickly become your favorite part of the day.
Then students create their own pumpkin life cycle version. If they get stuck, they can always refer back to this chart.
Pumpkin Informational Text Anchor Chart
As we continue to explore pumpkins and pumpkin books, students work on completing this chart by adding pumpkin facts. This chart is pinned to a bulletin board, and it is added to each day.
Then students use this informational support to write their own books about pumpkins. They will spend several days writing their All About Pumpkins book. We included a page where they can label the parts of a pumpkin.
Pumpkin Art Project
Students also participated in a directed drawing of a pumpkin blossom. Here is an example of the watercolor pumpkin craft.
Pumpkin Science Center Exploration Activities
We also love exploring pumpkins using Deanna Jump’s Pumpkin unit. It is filled with fun hands on activities. Fall is the best time to explore pumpkins:
We place our pumpkin seeds in a bag so they could germinate. We observed pumpkin seeds sprout. This took several days and we documented our observations throughout the week.
We measured real pumpkins of various sizes and also discovered the pumpkins float! The little pumpkins and the large ones! You can do this activity as a whole group or break your classroom into small groups.
Pumpkin Poem
This is one of our favorite pumpkin poems about going to the pumpkin patch.
You can find this poem by clicking:
Pumpkin Fine Motor Activities
Often times in kindergarten, young students need some extra practice with fine motor skills. Their little hands have little muscles that need some exercise! This is a fun pumpkin themed activity! Students will spin the spinner, then trace the line.
Pumpkin Math and Literacy Center Ideas
Here are a few of the pumpkin center ideas for the week.
Students color by letter in this letter worksheet. Letter identification is one of the key literacy skills we try to master in fall. Young children need to have lots of practice in fun ways!
In this literacy center, students are sorting the pumpkin patch kids by the beginning sound. Bb, Dd, and Pp are often confused so this center is exceptionally helpful for students as they take a closer look at those letters.
Pumpkin Math Centers for Kindergarten
In this math skills pumpkin center, students are filling in the numbers that are missing from the pumpkin seed.
Students are putting these pumpkins in numerical order. The response page has a numberline to support them if they need help.
Favorite Books About Pumpkins
Here are a few other books you may wish to include in your pumpkin unit. These are affiliate links, but the suggestions are my own.
Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin Pie! by Jill Esbaum
This book will get your in the fall spirit for sure!
From the publisher: In this book, pumpkins aren’t just a fruit, they’re a symbol, a scent, a flavor of the entire season.Celebrate the flavor of fall on every page of this beautifully photographed picture book. Follow along as National Geographic takes you from seed to sprout, pumpkin to pie.
From a Seed to a Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer
This book tells how pumpkins grow from a tiny yellow seed to a pumpkin in this nonfiction picture book.
From the publisher: In this book, pumpkins aren’t just a fruit, they’re a symbol, a scent, a flavor of the entire season.Celebrate the flavor of fall on every page of this beautifully photographed picture book. Follow along as National Geographic takes you from seed to sprout, pumpkin to pie.
The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons
This book tells how pumpkins grow from a tiny yellow seed to a pumpkin in this nonfiction picture book.
From the publisher: In this book, pumpkins aren’t just a fruit, they’re a symbol, a scent, a flavor of the entire season.Celebrate the flavor of fall on every page of this beautifully photographed picture book. Follow along as National Geographic takes you from seed to sprout, pumpkin to pie.
Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell
This is a great story about what happens after Halloween! We loved it so much that we created an Engaging Readers Reading Comprehension unit around it:
Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White
This is a fun fall book! Here is what the publishers has to say:
What can you do with too many pumpkins?
Rebecca Estelle has hated pumpkins ever since she was a girl when pumpkins were often the only food her family had. When an enormous pumpkin falls off a truck and smashes in her yard, she shovels dirt over the pieces and forgets about them. But those slimy pumpkin smithereens sprout up in autumn, and Rebecca Estelle finds a sea of pumpkins in her garden.
The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll
Desmond and Clayton have to work together it to win the biggest pumpkin contest. Desmond, a field mouse, and Clayton, a city mouse, both fall in love with the same big pumpkin!
This book is a classic!
How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin by Margaret McNamara
Mr. Tiffin and his students use different ways to count to determine the number of seeds inside a pumpkin.
Charlie is the smallest kid in his class and he ends up with the small pumpkin to count. He was thrilled to find out that the smallest pumpkin had the most seeds.
Pumpkin Themed Activities
I hope you found a few new ideas to add to your fall ideas. Here are a few more ideas for fall.
Free Pumpkin Lesson Plan Template
You can download this free editable lesson plan template by clicking on the image below.
Free Pumpkin Seed Emergent Reader
We love this little reader about pumpkin seeds. You can even have students use pumpkin seeds with this book. You can grab your own free download by adding your email to the box below.
Pin for Later
Deedee Wills
My teaching career allowed me to experience teaching in different classroom environments and grades. My heart belongs to early childhood education. My job is to make teaching FUN, ENGAGING, and EASIER. Welcome!
Hi, I'm DeedeE.
My teaching career allowed me to experience teaching in different classroom environments and grades. My heart belongs to early childhood education. My job is to make teaching FUN, ENGAGING, and EASIER. Welcome!
Free curriculum planning Map
Use Promo Code: WILLS
SHOP
Latest Posts
You Might Also Enjoy...
9 Responses
Great pumpkin activities! I teach a 3/4 combo class. We won a HUGE pumpkin this week after our small pumpkin flew the furthest during our family night “pumpkin chuckin” contest 🙂 I think I will be adapting a few of these activities to fit my class!!
Very interesting ideas. Thank you 🙂
Greetings from Poland.
http://przedszkolnenowinki1.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much!
These activities are fabulous and so well organized. Could you make them editable? I teach French kindergarten so I would have to translate everything. Thanks.
Oh gosh! I am thrilled you like them, but I’m sorry, because of clipart terms of use, we can’t unlock the PDF files. I’m sorry.
Hi..I really enjoy reading your lesson on pumpkin. I did a lesson on visible thinking on pumpkin with my students. They are 3s and 4 years old. I will definitely used this plan and add some more to it for my classroom. Thank you for sharing.
You are welcome!!
Hi..I really enjoy reading your lesson on pumpkin. I did a lesson on visible thinking on pumpkin with my students. They are 3s and 4 years old. I will definitely used this plan and add some more to it for my classroom. Thank you for sharing. One more question I would like to ask..What was your goal for your students when you did this project?
If you are asking about observing the pumpkin seeds, we documented the changes in the seeds over a course of a few weeks while they germinated. 🙂