Kindergarten Kapers

Pumpkin Unit  

Books:
Growing Pumpkins Macmillan Early Science Books
Pumpkin, Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington
Hello, Mr. Scarecrow by Rob Lewis
The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll

Poems and Songs:

5 Little Pumpkins:
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said, "Oh, my! Its getting late!"
The second one said, "There are witches in the air!"
The third one said, "But we don't care!"
The fourth one said, "Let's run, let's run!"
The fifth one said, "Its only Halloween fun."
Then woooooo went the wind, and out went the light,
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

Mr. Pumpkin (tune:  Where is thumpkin)
Mr. Pumpkin, Mr. Pumpkin,
Eyes so round, eyes so round
Halloween is coming, Halloween is coming
To my town, to my town.

Pumpkin Song (tune: I'm a little teapot)
I'm a little pumpkin, orange and round
Here is my stem and there is the ground
When I get all cut up, don't you shout
Just open me up and scoop me out!

Activities:

KWL Chart:  what we KNOW, what we WANT to know, and what we LEARNED about pumpkins.

Pumpkin Science:  estimate and then measure the circumference and weight of the pumpkin, predict whether the pumpkin will sink or float, describe how the pumpkin looks and feels, scoop out the insides and examine them, etc.

Jack-O-Lantern Graph:  let the children vote on what kind of face to carve on the pumpkin by creating a graph.  I had the kids place a pumpkin sticker or small picture of a pumpkin that they drew next to the kind of face they wanted on the pumpkin (scary, silly, or happy--scary always seems to win!).

Make a class book:  At the end of your unit, have each child illustrate a page on what they learned about pumpkins.  Make a pretty cover and bind the pages together.  Place in your class library.

Field Trip:  Take a field trip to a pumpkin patch or nursery that has a neat pumpkin display.

Recipe:

Pumpkin Pudding Cones:
1/3 can of pumpkin pie filling with spices
8 oz. prepared whipped topping
2 packages of instant vanilla pudding
milk
ice cream cones

Let the children help mix the pudding with the milk according to instant pudding directions.  Add the pumpkin pie filling and stir well (or use electric mixer).  The children then spoon the mixture into ice cream cones.   "Frost" the tops with whipped topping (note:  I sometimes just make the pudding without the ice cream cones and just use small dixie cups and spoons to eat).

Pumpkin Links:

Mrs. Griffin's Pumpkin Unit

Kindergarten Kapers Home      Thematic Units    High Frequency Words     Exit Expectations 

Links     Teacher Tips