Wednesday, September 30, 2015

OH, ONCE I HAD A PUMPKIN...

Once I Had a Pumpkin
(Tune: “Lassie and Laddie”)
Oh, once I had a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin. 
         (Hands over head like a pumpkin.)
Oh, once I had a pumpkin with no face at all.
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 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.

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 homemade play dough and 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. 
 
Hint!  Add pumpkin pie spice to make aroma play dough. 
                                 
Math Games - Make games where children seriate pumpkins from large to small or put pumpkins in numerical order.