Get fresh, new ideas for pumpkin activities for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students that promote learning, engagement, and fun! Keep reading for ideas to make your pumpkin unit a huge hit with your students! There are ideas for literacy, math, sensory, art, a booklist, and so much more!
Grab the Pumpkin Math & Literacy Centers, Little Learners Science Unit All About Pumpkins, Fall STEM I Can Build, and the Pumpkin Patch Dramatic Play Unit to complete your October lesson plans!
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Pumpkin Blocks & STEM Props! I love to add small pumpkins and gourds, tractors, green pipe cleaners, and natural wood slices to my blocks or STEM area. Students can free build or create things from the Fall STEM I Can Build set. I prefer not to use real pumpkins and gourds since the blocks are so hard and can easily bump and scrap the pumpkin skin, which makes real pumpkins start to stink and not last the whole fall season.
Pumpkin Science Center! Learn all about pumpkins with your little learner and watch their love of science grow and develop! Carve a pumpkin together and talk about all the parts of the pumpkin. I then place some of the insides into a zippered bag so students can explore it further. I also dry some seeds and let them look at those. You can also leave the carved pumpkin out for students to investigate. You can place it in the fridge when not in use to help it last longer.
Pumpkin Hammer! Grab some golf tees and a play/rubber hammer to develop hand-eye coordination, arm and hand strength, and fine motor skills! Some students may not be able to get the golf tee started into the skin, so you can pound the tees just through the skin, and the child can pound them in the rest of the way. These rubber mallets work great for this activity.
Pumpkin Writing Center! Engage your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten students in a pumpkin-themed writing center. I like to set out several different writing utensils, word cards for the theme, stickers, stamps, letter cards for the theme, and cute writing paper.
Pumpkin Word Work! Use the themed word cards from the Pumpkins Math & Literacy Centers (click the photo to find them) to create a fun word work station. I hot glued a pumpkin mini eraser to a wide green popsicle stick. Then students will pick a word and spell it on the stick using letter manipulatives. These are my favorite letter manipulatives! Place the letters in a bin and add pumpkin mini erasers and green pipe cleaner vines to make it even more fun!
Pumpkin Book List! Fill your class library with tons of great options for books about pumpkins! There are nonfiction and fiction options on the list, and with over 25 books, you are bound to find something that your class will love!
Pumpkin Name Craft! Make this adorable name craft with your students to practice scissors skills, name and letter identification, and artistic skills. Have a student that struggles with regular scissors? Grab these loop scissors that bounce back easily and help them develop more scissor skills.
Letter Hide & Seek! Play a fun game of letter hide & seek with plastic pumpkins and letter manipulatives. Students will pick a pumpkin out of the bin, open it, and identify the letter. Then, they will write the letter on their recording page. Grab the fillable pumpkins here.
Pumpkin Letter Formation Cards! Practice letter identification and formation with these cute pumpkin letter formation cards. Students can use pumpkin seeds, candy corn, pom poms, or any other small manipulatives to form the letters. If you laminate the cards, students can use dry-erase markers to trace the letter for another version of play.
Pumpkin Letter & Sound Match! Get your little learners to practice letter identification, letter sounds, and beginning sounds with this fun fall game. Students will match the letters to fill the wagons. So many differentiation options for the varying levels of students in your room. Capital to capital, capital to lowercase, beginning sounds to the letter, or all three to fill the wagon for some letter learning pumpkin activities.
Pumpkin Count & Fill! Use a small pumpkin container as the bowl and have students roll a die to get a number. They then have to count that many manipulatives into the pumpkin. Add in tweezers for even more fine motor practice! Small manipulative ideas: pom poms, pumpkin seeds, candy corn, pumpkin gems, buttons, or pumpkin mini erasers.
Pumpkin Lattes Count or Add! Practice counting and one-to-one correspondence with this fun pumpkin latte game! Students will pick a card that tells them how many scoops of pumpkin spice and whipped cream to add to the latte. Then they count out that many items and place them on the mat. This game also comes with an addition mat for students that are ready to practice addition equations. 
Pumpkin Patch Count! Fun butcher paper activity to get little learners up and moving. They have to move around the table to place the objects on the pumpkins. I set out all kinds of pumpkin-themed manipulatives for students to count and place in each numbered pumpkin.
Pumpkin Patterns! Use paper strips and dot markers to make pumpkin patterns. Students can finish your pattern or create their own with dot markers.
Pumpkin Shapes! Build 2D shapes and talk about the number of sides and vertices with these fun pumpkin shape cards. You can have students build the shape with play dough or pumpkin candies and toothpicks. The play dough or pumpkin candies will represent the vertices/corners, and the toothpicks are the sides. This makes it very easy for students to count the sides and vertices. You can also just use play dough to make the shapes. Students can make play dough snakes to make the sides or fill in the shape with play dough.
Pumpkin Puzzle Art! This is a fun art activity to develop spatial awareness and fine motor skills. Students can glue or stick the foam shape pieces onto the pumpkin foam mats for some hands-on pumpkin activities.
Pumpkin Still Life Paintings! Encourage students’ creativity with a painting station. Place real pumpkins and gourds on the table to make it inviting for your little artists. Then place paint and crayons, (the same colors as the pumpkins and gourds) and black markers. You can set out the trays with blank paper or let students grab those supplies themselves. You can also grab the fall-directed drawing bundle for simple steps to draw fall pictures to paint.
Pumpkin Play Dough Tray! Let your little learners explore and create with a pumpkin-themed playdough tray. Small manipulatives are great for encouraging creativity and building fine motor muscles. I used pumpkin seeds, pumpkin gems, fake leaves, green pipe cleaner vines, and other play dough tools.
Pumpkin Sensory! Dye chickpeas in fall colors and add tools to make a fun pumpkin sensory bin! Check out this post to learn how to dye chickpeas. I added silicone cupcake liners, measuring spoons, small baking tins, tongs, and pumpkin silicone baking mats. You can add pumpkin gems, pom poms, or mini erasers too for extra fun!
Pumpkin Wash! Clean your pumpkins and have fun with this simple pumpkin activities sensory play option. I dyed the water green and added soap for bubbles. Add in small pumpkins and other fun water toys like funnels, small sponges, droppers, and spiders.
Pumpkin Patch Snack! Students will LOVE this pumpkin snack! A chocolate pudding cup, crushed chocolate sandwich cookies, pumpkin candy corn, and green icing is all you need. Invite students to create their pumpkin patch snack. Place a cookie in a plastic sandwich baggie and let the students smash their own cookie for some fun fine motor work. Then pass the icing bag around for them to create the vines and lastly, they place the pumpkins in the cup. So yummy and so much fun!
Pumpkin Patch Dramatic Play! Check out this post to read all about how I set up my pumpkin patch dramatic play area.
A pumpkin theme is so much fun for your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten students! Plus, it is one of the easier themes to find materials for and lends itself to so many learning opportunities! I hope these pumpkin activities are helpful in creating a fun fall theme in your classroom!
Remember to check out the Pumpkin Book List for over 25 pumpkin book options!
Make some fall sensory bottles for more pumpkin activities! Find out how here.
Grab the Pumpkin Math & Literacy Centers Unit to have tons of options for math and literacy learning opportunities with an adorable pumpkin theme!
Check out the Little Learners Science All About Pumpkins Unit to explore, learn, and investigate pumpkins in the classroom!
Complete the pumpkin theme with the Fall STEM I Can Build Unit!
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