Giant Pumpkin for the Fall Season

For last couple of years I've been creating the feel of the Fall season in the classroom by bringing in big bales of hay and lots of of pumpkins and gourds of all sizes, colors and shapes. This year due to a hay allergy we are not able to have hay. It's a bummer because children really enjoyed it especially for gross motor fun. After some contemplation of what else can we enjoy instead of hay I decided to bring a giant pumpkin for the children to climb on. At first children didn't seem too excited about it, but as the day went on children became curious and let the exploration begin; climbing, balancing, sitting, rolling, and sliding! It was challenging to climb on but most children were determined to get on and kept trying until they succeeded.

 Ethan enjoyed climbing on

 carefully standing up

and jumping off!

 Hanging out

 sliding

 climbing on

 sitting

Elise enjoyed balancing on her belly

sliding down or downward facing dog? 

 Izzy trying to keep her balance as she climbs on.

Izzy and Penelope sharing the space. 

The boys pretended the pumpkin was a volcano; they drove the cars on top of the volcano trying to get away from the lava.

Besides the giant pumpkin in the play yard children had an opportunity to explore the variety of pumpkins, gourds and indian corn in the sensory bins with magnifying glasses. 

Mostly, children were interested in dramatic play of course! This is where communication, team work and problem solving takes place.

 Ethan and Stella worked together gathering all the squash and loading it into the wheelbarrow.

Ethan pulled the wheelbarrow around the yard and stopped by the sandbox

Then, they unloaded the squash together, lined it all up one by one, then again loaded it all back into the wheelbarrow for another ride.

Girls on their way home from the store.

Art

 My favorite art activities are setting up invitations to paint. I love using natural materials with mirrors to create a beautiful space to work at. Children love to explore with all their senses and natural materials are appealing to senses. While children work we have an opportunity to discuss the colors, texture and smells.

Invitation to paint: Apples

Watercolors: red, orange, green 

Watercolor paper

 Invitation to paint: Gourds

Tempera paint: yellow, orange, green

White construction paper

Invitation to paint: Leaves

Tempera paint: yellow, green, brown

White construction paper

Invitation to paint: Indian Corn
Natural Paintbrushes - Corn Leaves
Tempera paint: yellow, orange, purple
Construction paper: white and green

Dramatic Play

The kitchen area is also pretty busy with play related to our Harvest theme. Children bake, cook, and picnic together.

We will continue this unit with more science, art, literacy, dramatic play and more in the upcoming weeks. Who knows, maybe we will even bake a real pumpkin pie for our Tasty Thursday?