Five Pumpkin Seed Learning Activities

One of the best manipulatives for October is pumpkin seeds. There are so many things you can do with them. We had a great time with these five activities, but there’s so much more you can do with pumpkin seeds!

Scoop and Pour (Fine Motor)

Materials:

Pumpkin Seeds

Plastic Cups

Small Plastic Halloween Baskets

Plate

Spoon

Set-Up:

1. Place a cup, small plastic Halloween basket, and spoon on the plate.

2. Pour pumpkin seeds in the cup. There should be enough pumpkin seeds to fill the basket without overflowing.

Directions:

1. Have your child use the spoon to scoop pumpkin seeds from the cup and pour them out in the small Halloween basket until the cup is empty.

2. When finished, have your child pour the pumpkin seeds from the basket back into the cup so he can begin again.

Making Letters or Words

Materials:

Pumpkin Seeds

Plate or Bowl

Letter or Word Cards

Set-Up:

1. Place a large letter or word card in from of your child.

2. Provide your child with pumpkin seeds in a plate or bowl.

Directions:

1. Have your child pick up one pumpkin seed at a time and place it on the letter or word provided to practice the shape of the letter or word he is creating.

Lily practiced writing her name with pumpkin seeds while Caleb practice some –at family words he has been practicing.

2. (Optional) You could have your child glue the pumpkin seeds to the letters to create a fun craft, but we just like putting them on and taking them all for continuous fun!

Pumpkin Seed Points

Materials:

Pumpkin Seeds

2 Plate or Bowl

Skill Flash Cards

1 Die

Set-Up:

1. Place pumpkin seeds in a plate or bowl.

2. Provide your child with a second plate or bowl to hold the pumpkin seed points he earns.

Directions:

1. Show your child a flashcard. Caleb is practicing reading short a words, so these were the flashcards he was shown, but any skill can be practiced by using addition or subtraction flashcards, dates in history, science vocabulary, and more!

2. Once your child provides a correct answer to the flashcard, he can roll the die, identify the number shown, and count out that many pumpkin seeds to put on his plate. These are his points. You may want to create a goal of earning 30 points to end the game or if you’re playing with multiple children, you can set a time limit for the game and see who has the most when time is up.

One-to-One Counting

Materials:

Pumpkin Seeds

Plate or Bowl

Die

Set-Up:

1. Provide your child with pumpkin seeds in a plate or bowl and the die.

Directions:

1. Have your child roll the die and count how many dots. Then, have your child count out the same number of pumpkin seeds.

2. You can have your child match up the pumpkin seeds to the dots on the die if you use a large one. I got mine from the Dollar Tree.

Number Recognition & Counting Craft

Materials:

Pumpkin Seeds

Monthly Counting Practice Printables

Glue

Set-Up:

1. Provide your child with pumpkin seeds in a plate or bowl and glue.

2. Provide your child with printable pages from
Monthly Counting Practice Printables.

Directions:

1. Have your child identify the number at the top of the page and glue that many pumpkin seeds to the paper.

This is great for children to see how numbers grow by one!

Have you tried any activities like these? How did it go? I’d love to hear your experiences and any other fun ideas you’ve done with pumpkin seeds!

Keep coming back! I have more ideas to share!

God Bless Your Learning Journey ~

 

 If you liked these activities, you may also like Observation Journal (Pumpkin Studies)!

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