Our Pumpkin Study

About a week and a half ago, we visited a local pumpkin patch for a day of fall fun for the whole family.  We came home with a few brilliant orange treasures, so we’ve taken a couple of days to learn a little bit about these paragons of beauty and tastiness of the autumn season.

1.  The Books We Read-

The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons- a great introduction to pumpkins and their life cycle.

From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer- another book with great pictures and explanations of the life cycle of the pumpkin.

The Very Best Pumpkin– a sweet tale of friendship and growing pumpkins.

Pumpkin Soup– another story about friendship, working together, and getting along.

Pumpkin Town– We all laughed our way through this silly and very enjoyable book about pumpkin vines that take over a small town.

2.  Nature Study-

After reading about the pumpkin and its life cycle, we drew the life of a pumpkin.  A few days later, they were able to explain in some detail about how a pumpkin grows.  I was impressed.

Then we added a page to our nature journals with a drawing of the outside and inside of a pumpkin.  At first, after her first glance, Princess K refused to even look at -let alone draw- the insides of the pumpkin.  She declared it too icky.  Eventually, she warmed up to the project and though she still would not touch the insides, she drew them.

You can see the look on this girl’s face- she is not interested in the inside of a pumpkin

3.  Art Projects-

We all had a great time making pumpkin pie play dough and then the kids had a blast playing with it for a long time.  We used the recipe from Dresses and Messes.  This play dough really did have a great texture to it.  I pulled out some cookie cutters- along with a pumpkin one, of course- and let them go to town.  They built what they called an Ant Playground and then went outside to try to recruit some ants for their project.  What interesting ideas my kids have.

We also used the idea and tutorial from Hodge Podge to draw pumpkins with our pastel chalk.  We really enjoyed it and they turned out vaguely like pumpkins.  Success!

4.  Baking Projects-

After reading Pumpkin Soup, we worked together to make Pumpkin Soup for lunch.  It was delicious, though my kids only had a few sips before they were done.

Pumpkin Soup and Roasted Seeds

We also roasted the seeds and this afternoon, I am going to spice them up with some sugar and pumpkin pie spice.  I am greatly looking forward to that delicious snack.

In the next few days, I also plan to make pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin pancakes.  I absolutely love the flavors of fall!