Preschool Pumpkin Activities

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Fall is here! I love the pumpkin scents, warm bonfires, and cooler weather. Celebrating the Autumn season in my preschool classroom is one of my favorites too. I have organized lots of hands on pumpkin preschool activities, lesson plans, fall crafts, and pumpkin printables too.

Get ready to discover ideas for dramatic play centers, sensory bins, field trips, science experiments, and a whole bunch of pumpkin patch fun with your preschoolers this fall. I’ve organized a whole week of reading, math, and fine motor skill building pumpkin activities for preschoolers you won’t want to miss. Plus, lots of pumpkin books to read aloud this Fall.

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Best Hands On Pumpkin Preschool Activities

For preschoolers, hands on learning activities are essential. Using hands on pumpkin preschool activities to teach your kids important early skills gives them an opportunity to explore and learn new concepts in a variety of exciting ways. Plus, hands on pumpkin learning activities help engage reluctant or shy learners and create new possibilities for growth and learning. 

Check out some of my favorite hands-on pumpkin preschool activities for your classroom or homeschool this Autumn:

Going On a Pumpkin Hunt

In my preschool pumpkin lesson plans, I’ve included a fun printable activity that encourages kids to “go on a pumpkin hunt.” The activity involves hunting for numbered pumpkin templates (included in my printables) around the room. You can use real pumpkins too! 

Encourage your preschoolers to seek out the hidden pumpkins. Then, use the pumpkin printables in my preschool pumpkin activity pack to help your kids practice counting and number recognition as they count each pumpkin they discover and color the corresponding pumpkin on their page.

Don’t forget to sing “going on a pumpkin hunt” to the tune of “going on a bear hunt” while you search.

Pumpkin Playdough Mat

Included in my printable Halloween playdough mat set, this adorable pumpkin play mat will encourage your preschoolers to build fine motor skills, finger strength, and explore shapes and colors as they construct their own little pumpkins. Kids will have fun getting creative, kneading the dough, and learning to spell “pumpkin” with playdough using this cute little mat.

Another fun fact about using playdough mats in your classroom is that they’re a super easy way to add multi-sensory learning to your lesson plan. Preschoolers can use sight, touch, and even smell as they explore and mold their own playdough pumpkins. You can even use edible or scented playdough to add to the experience.

Syllable Stack

Next, you can build early literacy skills with one of my favorite preschool games of the season. Once you see this cute pumpkin game you’re going to be hooked! Preschoolers will work together to identify and count syllables in this silly pumpkin themed game.

Teaching your preschoolers to count syllables is a really important early literacy skill they’ll need to master for kindergarten. Having the ability to manipulate words by syllables helps kids begin to learn how to decode words, breaking them down into chunks they can read.

Pumpkin Patch Dramatic Play Center

Dramatic play centers are a lot of fun to set up! At first, I was a bit apprehensive about setting up my own pumpkin themed dramatic play center. I thought it would be a lot of work and possibly expensive too. However, I’ve come to see the value in these creative stations for kids and I’ve discovered some ways to keep the costs low too. 

With this preschool pumpkin activity lesson plan, we will be setting up our very own pumpkin patch! It’s a great way to get your preschoolers excited for a brand new theme at home or in the classroom. I’ve put together a big pack of pumpkin patch printables to make it easy for you to recreate this dramatic play center in your learning space too.

As a part of this dramatic play center, you’ll get ideas for these seasonal preschool pumpkin activities too:

• Bobbing for apples
• Face painting
• Corn maze
• Pumpkin carving
• Pumpkin decorating
• Hay rides
• Gift shop
• Farmer chores

The hands on pumpkin learning fun continues with this pumpkin patch dramatic play center! Plus, you’ll be encouraging your preschoolers to pretend, imagine, and get creative while building important early learning skills like problem solving, turn taking, and vocabulary building.

Check out my pumpkin patch walkthrough video for a more in depth look at what’s included and how you can pull this off for CHEAP!!!!

Preschool Science and Sensory Play with Pumpkins

There are some important ways you can incorporate science and sensory play into your lessons and learning activities with preschoolers. Begin by encouraging kids to ask lots of questions, be curious, and explore. These science experiments and pumpkin activities for preschoolers are a great place to start:

Exploring and Labeling Pumpkin Parts

Kids can learn a lot just by exploring new things and asking questions. Get ready for some scientific & sensory learning fun with this pumpkin activity for preschoolers. Grab a pumpkin from your nearest farm or grocery store for this project and cut it open.

Then, encourage your preschool kids to dig in and explore all the different pumpkin parts they find: seeds, skin, pulp, and more. You can talk about each part and how it functions inside the pumpkin with your preschoolers.

Then, work together to label the parts on my “Label the Pumpkin” printable worksheet.

Pumpkin Life Cycle Lessons

Next, explore the life cycle of a pumpkin together. You can read Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin Pie by Jill Esbaum aloud to your preschoolers. This beautiful book explores the life cycle of a pumpkin from seed all the way to, perhaps, a pumpkin pie.

I’ve included a hands on pumpkin life cycle activity that will encourage your preschoolers to practice sequencing as they arrange the stages of the pumpkin life cycle in order.

Then, preschoolers can build fine motor skills as they lace each stage together using yarn, Link-N-Learns, or shoelaces and my printable pumpkin life cycle cards for a memorable science learning experience.

Sensory Play with Pumpkins

Sensory bins encourage hands on exploration so they’re perfect for exploring pumpkin science with your preschoolers this Autumn. Plus, preschool activities that incorporate multiple senses help kids make connections between different parts of the brain, creating opportunities for cognitive growth.

You can explore senses and pumpkins with this preschool pumpkin sensory bin in the classroom or at home this year. Grab your favorite bin and these pumpkin related items to create your very own pumpkin patch sensory play activity:

• Filler: play sand or brown sugar
• Pumpkin Candy
• 12 Piece Kids’ Gardening tools

Preschoolers can plant their very own miniature pumpkin patch with this cute sensory play pumpkin activity for preschoolers. It’s a big hit in the classroom and at home on a rainy day.

Encourage your preschoolers to ask questions and find answers together as they play and explore this pumpkin sensory bin.

If you’re wanting another sensory bin idea, grab these fun pumpkin printables for sensory play this fall. Your preschoolers will love counting how many pumpkins are on each vine and identifying the number on the pumpkin worksheets for kids.

Pumpkin Volcano Experiment

Finally, get ready for some chemical reactions with a pumpkin science experiment your preschoolers won’t forget! It’s a fun way to learn about acids and bases with a safe experiment that’s sure to wow your kids. 

To make your very own pumpkin volcano, you’ll need a pumpkin (insides removed), baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring. First, add a few tablespoons of baking soda into your pumpkin. Then, place a few drops. of food coloring inside. Finally, when you’re ready for your pumpkin volcano to explode, add ¼ cup vinegar.

For even more learning fun, conduct this experiment a few different times. Ask your preschoolers whether they think the explosion will be bigger with more vinegar? What about more baking soda? Test their hypotheses and record the results for a whole day of hands on science learning fun with pumpkins.

But don’t let the fun stop there. Be sure to also try this apple volcano science experiment in September for even more fun!

Pumpkin Printables for Preschool

I love having fun with pumpkins in my preschool classroom! The possibilities are endless. That’s why I’ve put together a bunch of fun and easy printables for you to use in your classroom or homeschool this Fall. Check out some of the pumpkin printables for preschoolers I’ve included:

• Subitizing Pumpkin Seeds
• Pumpkin Syllable Cut & Paste Activity
• Beginning Sound Pumpkin Patch
• Pumpkins On a Vine
• Match the Pumpkin Game
• Pumpkin Rhyme Bingo
• Pumpkin Life Cycle Activity
• How to Carve a Pumpkin Writing Pages

Plus, a whole set of printables to help you create pumpkin patch banners, pretend money, an open and closed sign, and more. I just know you’ll have so much fun building your very own pumpkin patch to play in this Fall! 

What exciting preschool pumpkin activities do you have planned for your kids this year? Share your favorite read alouds and pumpkin activities for preschoolers in the comment section. I can’t wait to read your suggestions and add a few to my lesson plans for this year too.

Halloween Crafts for Kids

First things first though.. how stinkin’ cute are these preschool Halloween crafts? I’m obsessed with crafts that are coupled with academics and I think this Frankenstein craft might just take the cake.

This preschool Halloween craft comes with a boy and girl Frankenstein and various sweet treat notes. This is the perfect fall bulletin board idea to show case to the school how sweet your class is! Honestly the kids get SUCH a kick out of spreading kindness so I always end up giving them ones to share with their friends, favorite teachers, or anyone else that is special to them!

One of my favorite things about being a teacher is building my students up with words of affirmation! Here’s a FREEBIE for all my favorite teacher friends out there. Each one of your students has at least one GREAT quality about them. SHARE this post and let your kiddos know they are a “Sweet Treat” and a valued part of your classroom community!

Pumpkin Crafts For Kids

Pumpkin crafts are a fun way to start off the holiday season. This easy pumpkin craft for kids is a fantastic craft to include in your lessons this October because it helps strengthen fine motor skills by tearing strips of paper.

Simply print the free pumpkin template and tear small strips of orange and brown construction paper. Then glue the colored paper onto the template for an easy pumpkin craft for your fall bulletin board.

Free Pumpkin Printables and Worksheets

Here’s another free pumpkin activity that would go great in a sensory bin or as a pumpkin hunt this Fall.

To play, fill each pumpkin egg with a letter. Then hide the eggs around the room or in a sensory bin. Your students will love finding each pumpkin, cracking open the egg, and identifying the letter inside.

Once they find the letter, they will build upon their fine motor strength by writing the letter on the free pumpkin worksheet.

Pumpkin counting activity

Number recognition and counting is an important skill for preschool students to learn. Help set a solid math foundation this October with a free pumpkin count and cover activity for kids.

As your preschoolers identify each number, they will trace them and count out that many items on the mat. As you can see, there’s a variety of manipulatives that can be used with this pumpkin freebie. Here are a few of my favorite math counters for kids:

• Pumpkin candy
• Pumpkin erasers
• Plastic pumpkins
• Pom Poms
• Pumpkin seeds

More Preschool Pumpkin Activities

Keep the counting fun going this Fall with my free pumpkin printable for kids. Hang these cards around a room and get your students up and moving. Or toss them in a sensory bin for a festive good day.

Your students will love searching for the pumpkin cards, counting the seeds, and coloring in the right number on this pumpkin worksheet.

Preschool Halloween Activities

We can’t talk about pumpkins without mentioning Halloween! They kind of go hand in hand. This FREE Halloween printable is a spooky good time, especially when used in a sensory bin.

This is perfect for reinforcing letter names, letter recognition, and handwriting with your preschool or kindergarten students. Grab the free capital and lowercase letter tracing worksheets and easily build on your students reading foundation in a fun way!

To turn this preschool halloween activity into a sensory bin first find a tub that’s at least the size of a piece of paper, so the bone letter worksheet can fit inside. Then, put the bone letter worksheet in the tub and a filler (black beans, kinetic sand, toy bones etc) on top of it.

After that, have your students search through the objects with a skeleton arm (witches broom, toy shovel etc), looking for bone letters to identify. Once your students find a letter, have them identify it, say the sound that it makes, and write it on the tracing letter worksheets.

Preschool Spider Activities

Are you looking for more free Halloween printables? These free spider activities help to reinforce sight words and letter recognition in your students.

There are also free spider boom cards, counting spider activities, spider poems, crafts. And much, much more. Grab all of these free spider activities to keep your students engaged and learning all season long!

Halloween Fine Motor Mats

Strengthening fine motor muscles is a big deal with toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten aged students. Mastering this will help them do things like button their shirts, zip their pants, and write their ABCs.

To help with this, I created these fun Halloween fine motor mats. It comes with a bat and a pumpkin to choose from and are highly engaging. All you need are the fine motor mats, paint, and q-tips for tons of fun!

Last but certainly not least, I’ll leave you with this free Halloween fine motor activity. These free Halloween Playdoh mats are perfect for building fine motor muscles and handwriting skills. I just know your little ones will love them!

Which is your favorite preschool pumpkin activity? Leave a comment below and tell me which pumpkin printables you’ll try this Fall.