Once I Had a
Pumpkin
(Tune: “Lassie and Laddie”)
Oh, once I had a
pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin.
(Hands over head like
Oh, once I had a
pumpkin with no face at all. a pumpkin.)
With no eyes and
no nose and no mouth and no teeth.
(Point
to facial features.)
Oh, once I had a
pumpkin with no face at all.
So I made a
jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern.
(Draw a jack-o-lantern in the air.)
So I made a
jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern, jack-o-lantern.
With big eyes and
a big nose and big mouth and big teeth.
(Draw
facial features in the air.)
So I made a
jack-o-lantern with a big funny face.
*Draw a
jack-o-lantern on the board or on an overhead as you sing the song.
Pumpkin Paint
– Mix equal parts of flour and salt.
Stir in orange tempera paint.
(Obviously, if it’s powdered, you will need to add some water, too.) Add a spoonful of cinnamon or pumpkin
pie spice to the paint and stir.
Children can paint a pumpkin, pumpkin pie, or whatever they want. Their painting will be textured and
smell good, too!
Pumpkin Seeds
– Before carving your pumpkin, have the children estimate how many seeds they
think it will contain and write down their estimations. Have the children separate the seeds
and count them. Who guessed
more? Who guessed less? Who guessed the closest amount? Cook some of the seeds by rinsing them
and frying them in a little butter and salt. Save some of the seeds to plant in the spring.
Five Little
Pumpkins
(You can say this
or sing it to the tune of “Five Little Ducks.”)
Five little
pumpkins sitting on the gate. (Hold
up 5 fingers.)
The first one
said, “Oh, my it’s getting late.” (Hold
up thumb.)
The second one
said, “There are witches in the air.”(Hold up index finger.)
The third one
said, “But I don’t care.” (Hold
up middle finger.)
The fourth one
said, “Let’s run and run and run.” (Hold
up ring finger.)
The fifth one
said, “I’m ready for some fun.” (Hold
up pinky.)
Ooooo!
Went the wind, and out went the light. (Blow
and then clap.)
And the five
little pumpkins rolled out of sight! (Roll
hands behind back.)
Paper Plate
Pumpkins – Make pumpkins out of paper plates. Choose five children to hold the pumpkins as you say the
rhyme. You could also cut pumpkins
out of felt and use on a flannel board.
Pumpkin Play
Dough – Make play dough using the recipe below. Add red and yellow food coloring to make it orange. Let the children knead in pumpkin pie
spices. They’ll have fun making
pumpkins, pies, and other characters.
2
cups all purpose flour
1
cup salt
2
TB. cream of tartar
2
TB. vegetable oil
2
cups water
food
coloring
Mix all the
ingredients together in a pan and stir until smooth. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until the mixture
forms a ball and sticks to the spoon.
Cool and knead. Store in
plastic bags or covered containers.
Math Games - Make games where children seriate pumpkins from large to small or put pumpkins in numerical order.
