Our Class Pumpkin

Each class was asked to decorate a pumpkin like their favorite book character. We chose There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. To start us off, we made a schema list (what we already know) about pumpkins. As a class we completed a pumpkin investigation chart. We described the outside and predicted how many lines our pumpkin had, then we counted 25 lines on our pumpkin. We talked about different ways to open the pumpkin. We cut the top off and used a large strainer spoon and a ladle to scoop out the guts. We added descriptions about the inside to our chart and predicted how many seeds were in the pumpkin. Next week we will count the seeds. Next we started working on our pumpkin. Some kids separated seeds from the pulp, some painted what she swallowed on gourds and wrote the words for each, and others painted the face. Several kids cut yarn for hair while others made a pair of glasses out of pipe cleaners. As we added the finishing touches to our old lady, the kids decided that she needed a body. That became the day 2 project. After the kids stuffed the sleeves of a dress, we stretched the dress over a milk can. Below you will see our end result. We are very proud!!!!

Next week we will be visiting the pumpkin patch and learning about pumpkins grow. Each child will plant a seed from our pumpkin and we will document their growth.

Pumpkin Activities

Here are pictures of our class exploring the inside and outside of a pumpkin. We described the outside and counted the lines. We described the inside and predicted how many seeds were in it. We then counted all the seeds. Our pumpkin had 606 seeds. We washed and dried the seeds so we could bake them and eat them.