As the leaves change and the weather cools, themed learning can help bring some helpful engagement to your preschool classroom. In this post, I’m sharing some fun activities that you can use for a preschool pumpkin theme! Your students will love these hands-on and engaging pumpkin activities for preschool.
The Benefits of Themed Learning
Themed learning is such a great tool for the preschool classroom! There are many reasons why themes are so great for young students in particular. First, themed learning gives students the chance to learn about new topics as well as deepen their understanding of familiar topics. Plus, a week of themed learning also gives students the exposure and repetition they need to master new vocabulary words related to the topic. Finally, themes are a fun way to keep students engaged in skill practice!
8 Activities for a Preschool Pumpkin Theme
I know that there are many worthwhile activities to choose from when it comes to a pumpkin preschool theme! To help you narrow it down, I’m sharing eight of my favorites in this post. Students will be able to learn more about pumpkins and how they grow while also practicing academic skills.
1. Pumpkin Anchor Chart
As I mentioned above, themed units give students the chance to learn a lot of new concepts and vocabulary about the world around them. It’s helpful to have a place to keep track of all this learning during a week of themed learning!
This pumpkin anchor chart can help you document and display the things that students already know about pumpkins. There is also space for you to document the new facts and vocabulary your students are learning during the unit. You can keep this anchor chart on display for students to reference all week!
2. Pumpkin Nonfiction Text and Vocabulary
One of my favorite ways to help students learn about pumpkins is to use engaging nonfiction books. Reading about pumpkins together as a class is a great way to discuss new concepts and vocabulary.
Plus, this is a great opportunity to help build a strong foundation for comprehension by pointing out nonfiction text features as you come across them in the text. For example, you can show your preschoolers that you’re finding additional information about pumpkins in the captions under the photos in the book.
3. Pumpkin Experiments
A pumpkin unit is a great opportunity to add some science experiments to your lesson plans! Students can learn about buoyancy and then predict whether or not a pumpkin will float in water. An illustrated recording sheet can help your students choose a prediction and then document what happened.
Another fun experiment for preschoolers is to see if they can make a pumpkin seed sprout. This is a great way for students to see the pumpkin life cycle in action! Plus, an illustrated recording sheet makes it easy for little hands to document their observations.
4. Pumpkin Life Cycle
Another can’t-miss part of a pumpkin unit is to learn about the pumpkin life cycle. Students can create this life cycle visual to help them see how a pumpkin grows!
5. Pumpkin Fiction Text Comprehension
In addition to nonfiction text about pumpkins, there are a wide variety of fiction books that can help your students practice important comprehension strategies.
One of my favorite books to read to young children is “Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins” by Diane Orchiltree. A raccoon named Sam works hard to round up sixteen pumpkins for Gramps, but then has a bit of trouble getting the wagon back home. This clever story gives students the chance to practice making predictions, identify the problem and solution, and even make connections to the text.
Your preschoolers can also use poetry to review some of the vocabulary and concepts that they are learning during the unit. This pumpkin poem is a great addition to a week of themed learning.
6. Pumpkin Number Sense
You can also bring the pumpkin theme into math practice in your preschool classroom! The doubling of the pumpkins throughout the “Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins” story is fun to explore with your students.
Students can also play a counting game where they add pumpkins to ten frames after rolling a die. As they work to fill up their own wagon with sixteen runaway pumpkins, they will be practicing one-to-one correspondence!
7. Pumpkin Patch
Another fun counting activity is to have a pumpkin patch in your classroom! Students can use their own pumpkin cash to purchase a paper pumpkin from the patch. They can use the key provided to decide how they want to spend their money. Do they want to buy one large pumpkin? Or would they rather buy three small ones? This is always such a fun activity for preschoolers!
8. Pumpkin Crafts
Finally, it wouldn’t be a week of themed learning without some pumpkin crafts! This gives your preschoolers a chance to practice important fine motor skills as they also practice following directions.
Students can make a fun pumpkin life cycle craft to share everything they have learned about how pumpkins grow. This is also a great sequencing activity!
Finally, students can create a simple pumpkin buddy craft that gives them the chance to improve their hand strength and coordination as they accordion-fold the arms and legs. The final crafts always look so adorable on a fall bulletin board and are a great way to remind your students of all the fun they had during the pumpkin unit!
Printable Pumpkin Activities for Preschool
Would you like to use some (or all) of these activities during your next preschool pumpkin unit? You can find all of these printable activities (and more!) in one easy-to-download resource. It includes everything you need to plan a developmentally appropriate and standards-based pumpkin unit for your preschool class.
If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this pumpkin unit, you can find it in my TPT store.
Save These Fun Activities for a Preschool Pumpkin Theme
Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite kindergarten board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these fun activity ideas when you’re planning a preschool pumpkin theme week.
